Out Of Reach
by Fifth-Of-Fourth
Summary: She was a slave, a pet, an item, a possession. Longing for freedom, a rare chance finally came for her to obtain it along with help. She did what she wanted. Live. She gained so much more. As a Whitebeard Pirate and daughter. But when she crossed paths with her tormentor once more, she will have to learn how to earn her freedom. Fem!MarcoxFem!Sanji. Fem!AcexFem!Luffy. Yuri. AU.
1. Prolouge: Living Freely

Alright, I have to say that this fic may very well be the most dramatic one out of the One Piece fics I had ever written. Naturally, I'm feeling quite passionate about this fic right now so nothing is probably going to stop me from deleting this fic. Nope. Not even if you dislike this pairing, dislike the genders, meowmeowmeowmeow-I'm going to continue it. On the other hand, for those who are interested in it, I'd like to hear your opinion on it. Criticisms are fine but if you're going to harp on useless things such as pairings, well... your problem.

This fic is rated M due to torture and some violent contents in future. However, there will be nothing extreme sexual.

The image for this fic is drawn by me (Which explains the messy sketching and fail Fem!Sanji LOL!)

In addition, I've drawn the genderbent!female Strawhat Pirates and Fem!Ace.

img526. imageshack. us/ img526/ 1058/ scan0004xd. jpg (Remove the spaces!)

Order: Portgas D. Anne, Monkey D. Luffyko, Roronoa Zoroko, Sanjiko, Chopper, Frankie, Usoko

**I do not own One Piece**

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**Prolouge**

The world is cruel place.

Marko, simply Marko, sat in the cage in her master's bedroom. Her neck was decorated with a filthy bomb collar and her legs were restrained by heavy, iron chains. She had an exhausted look in her eyes that reflected the condition of her worn out body. However, brought about by her strong willpower, it wasn't devoid of hope. Her head was bald save for the blonde locks falling on the right side of her head and had nothing but a black cloak to shield her body from the cold. Beneath the back of the cloak was a hideous mark, Hoof of The Flying Dragon.

She looked twenty, just like how she did ten years ago.

It was because of her mysterious, cursed powers she gained from eating a fruit. It gave her what most people would consider a blessing.

Time moved extremely slow for her. Marko would remain young much longer than average people.

Not only that, she was also able to transform into a mythical creature: A phoenix. When she first unintentionally transformed in front of her parents, they were scared. They couldn't accept the fact that their daughter was different. If only they had actually loved her, maybe they wouldn't have sold her to her current master. They were poor, her parents couldn't afford to support themselves and they often unleashed their frustrations on their only child. They said that she was an accident and was quick to save themselves on her expenses when the chance arises. The nobles, as she had heard, had money to spare and was willing to spend on slaves. The more unusual a person is, the higher the price.

Her parents lived a happy life.

Meanwhile, she was being held captive and branded as their own. Marko wasn't allowed to leave the cage unless she was ordered to follow her master around to humiliate her publicly. He sat on her, whipped her, mocked her, punished her and made her eat dirt. In private, she faced worse tortures and sometimes, rape by the more obedient servants. She wasn't able to fight back. She was weak from the lack of food and sleep. They gave her barely enough to last her for a few hours. If that wasn't the reason, it must be the tranquilizer they injected into her daily.

"It's time for your walk, pet," her master told her.

Before she could lift her head up to glare, the barred door opened and she was dragged out with a tug of her collar. Marko refused to make any noises as she landed on the warm carpet. The dragging continued on until they were at the door. Her master commanded her to crawl and she did in order to avoid the consequences that would follow if she didn't. The phoenix tried not to look up as they strolled through their usual route. She already knew. He was just bringing her out to show her off to fellow nobles.

"Oh, it's you again. My, she hadn't changed at all," a passing noblewoman remarked and it wasn't difficult to catch the hint of jealousy in her tone. "You really picked yourself a fine pet, as I've always said."

Her master chuckled and tried to be modest but failing like a sinking hammer. "This wrench isn't good for anything else though. I simply bought her because her parents were desperate to get rid of her ugly self."

"I understand how they feel. I wouldn't feel safe if my child were to be a monster." These parents ought to suffer.

"A monster is only fit to be a pet and nothing else. But of course, there are always useful ones we can make use of."

"I agree. Such hideous creatures shouldn't be allowed to roam around freely as they pleased. They would end up tainting our beautiful world. We should be thanked for preventing them from running wild. I swear, the things we do for those normal people."

Marko couldn't bring herself to listen anymore. Even though she had long grown numb at the mention of her parents, her heart continued to constrain whenever they got onto the topic. Monsters. How could they say that? If she were to be freed, she swear that she wouldn't harm anyone. All she wanted was to live a life that she could pass her days peacefully. Marko had never had the intention to hurt other people. Even before she ate the strange fruit, her existence wasn't approved but at the very least, she had more freedom. She longed to reach her hand out to the sun and lay on the soft grass. She wanted to live.

"What are you spacing out for?" her master barked angrily and his feet flew to her stomach. "Ungrateful brat. You should appreciate that I'm allowing you to stay at my house. Not only are you worthless, you're being a nuisance too."

_No one told you to bring me here_, Marko thought bitterly as she struggled back to her position.

"I had enough of this. We're going back before I feel like killing you."

When they returned, she was put back into her cage as per normal. However this time, because her master was summoned upon by an extremely important visitor, he had forgotten to close the cage. Maybe it was his underestimation towards her that she wouldn't be able to escape even for that little slip up. The tranquilizer was still working (but almost reaching the end of it's span) and the bomb collar was more than useful. If she were to wander too far, it will activate and render her motionless if she survived. In addition, it will also alert the people living in the mansion.

The window was opened as it always served as a taunt that no matter how many doors were opened for her, she would continue to remain here.

This was her chance.

It was now or never.

Marko, her eyes fiercely determined as she managed to keep, struggled to stand. She had to do this. Even if the chances of failing was extremely high, this was her first chance of escape and she would be damned if she let this go. The phoenix emerged in her glory and faced the window.

A leap. She was perched on the windowsill.

The distance between herself and the sea wasn't a laughing matter. It was another route to death.

But hell, she'd rather choose death compared to living with this sick asshole.

Another leap. She was falling... falling...

Suddenly, her wings moved and she was soaring above the water. The moment was short-llived, however, when the bomb collar activated itself. Marko screwed her eyes shut as a loud boom echoed through the air. When she opened her eyes, she was surprised to find that not only was she alive but she was still flying. Her body wasn't in pain anymore. However, it was still very weak from the lack of nutrients and pill.

Finally, she was able to have a taste of freedom.

Marko took in everything she could see. The blue sky, the white clouds and the endless stretch of sea. There was a cruise floating on the clean waters. Different pieces of land was still while many other ships sailed in an disorderly manner. It was paradise.

After thirty minutes, her body gave in and fell. Even if it was merely thirty minutes, Marko was satisfied with what she had gotten.

It was already enough. She didn't need any more.

Marko accepted her end in her world of the dark void.

_Umi ni nemuru mono tachi no  
Komori uta wa Sea Blue_

_Yoru o utsushita nami no sheets  
Hoshi o yurashite  
Sora yori kagayaku_

_Umi ni nemuru mono tachi no  
Komori uta wa Sea Blue  
Tsuki ga nijinde sore zore no  
Aenai hito no  
Egao e michibiku_

_Sea Moon See You  
Mou ichido, aeru nara  
Sea Moon Sea YOU  
Yume o kanaeta, sono ato de  
Tatakai o osorenai otoko tachi o  
Shizukani...nemurasete...oyasumi, oyasumi..._

_Umi ni nemuru mono tachi no  
Komori uta wa Sea Blue  
Yasuragi shiranu sono kata ni  
Yasashii Blanket  
Otoshite ageyo_

What a beautiful song... What a lovely voice...

Marko's eyes slowly opened while the song was playing in her mind. She was back in her human form and it seemed as though she had landed on a cruise that happened to sail nearby her. She attempted to move her body but could only manage to twitch her hands. How pathetic. She couldn't even lift her head up.

"Oh, you're awake," the child commented when she noticed the twitch. "Good, I thought that you weren't going to wake up."

Silence.

"You're awake but you aren't moving... You aren't hurt either. You must be hungry, aren't you? Give me a minute."

After awhile, the child returned and a plate of food was placed in front of her. Marko's gaze flickered over to the plate and brightened up only for a slight moment before the fatigue got the better of her again. The plate held the amount of food that was a hundred times more than what she usually got. This would definitely restore her energy. However, she couldn't help but feel suspicious. Why was this huge amount of food suddenly offered to her? After living in a world of unfairness, she had grown not to believe things that were too good to be true. Instead of taking the food, Marko turned her head away.

"Huh? You don't want it? Hey, that's pretty rude. Despite my size, I have to say that I'm a pretty decent cook." It wasn't as though Marko could see the child anyway. "If you're worrying about money then forget about it. I'd have nightmares if I were to accept money from you."

Still nothing.

"You're pretty stubborn, aren't you? Look, just take the food already. You need the energy to leave here too, right? This ship is filled with nobles and they aren't kind to trespassers. If they caught you then you're done for. I wished I could help you more but this is all I could do for you."

Nobles. Not good. She can't stay here.

Marko struggled once again to stand up but ended up falling after only managing to lift herself one centimeter away from the ground.

"You stubborn prick. Can't you see that you can't go anywhere if you can't eat? Just eat, you shitty-Ah, sorry. I got worked up again. Those shitty anger management classes didn't help after all," the child grumbled to herself.

Marko had never been apologized to in her life...

"Fine, I understand if you're too shy or full of pride and shit so I'm just going to hide behind the door so I won't see you. It's up to you whether you want to eat or get caught by the nobles. I would've hide you but I'm too small to carry you around without getting noticed. Just... eat up and go. Don't waste anymore time. Please," the child finally said firmly and went back in. Then, she continued singing.

_Subete o kono umi ni sasageru nara  
Subete o kono umi ni mitsukeru daro  
Soshite mata.._

So she was the one who was singing...

Marko looked at the plate of food once again and her resolve to live returned. Gathering up all of her strength, she started to eat.

"This is delicious, yoi," she managed to say after a few bites.

The child didn't respond but had a smile on her face as she continued singing.

_Umi ni nemuru mono tachi no  
Komori uta wa Sea Blue  
Yume kara samenu kodomo tachi  
Okosanuyooni  
Okosanuyooni...  
Sea Moon See you_

After she was done eating, the child had already left for her work. Honoring her request, Marko didn't go inside to look for the child. And without looking back, she transformed once again and flew much faster, much freer than ever.

At last, she is living.

**End of Prologue **

* * *

So how it is so far? It'd be very helpful to me if you guys were to give your opinions about it. :D Because I have other fics to update (It's Time For A Change!, Problematic Kids blablabla), update for this fic may be sporadic as well. I plan to update all of my fics as fairly as possible or otherwise stated.

Edit: The song sung by the kid (Which is Sanjiko) is sung by Kid!Sanji's voice actress as one of his character songs. Here is the link. (youtube website)/watch?v=CkjxzG-weFc

I was spamming this song on repeat and was confused between 'Sea Blue' and 'Sea Moon'. Wikia's lyrics translation says that it's Sea Moon but some parts sounded more like 'Blue' instead of 'Moon' so I'm going to put that instead.

Review, pretty please?

-Runs off-


	2. Her Normal Life Now

Hello! And I'm back with the second chapter. Even though there wasn't much reviewers, I'm still happy that there are people who supported this story. Thanks for the favourites and follows as well! I couldn't control myself and decided to kill the night writing this out after finishing chapter thirteen for 'It's Time For A Change!'. I'd be updating this story like a running motorbike but it wouldn't be fair to my other stories. 8'D

I forgot to put in the last story but the song sung by the kid (Which is Sanjiko) is sung by Kid!Sanji's voice actress as one of his character songs. Here is the link. (youtube website)/watch?v=CkjxzG-weFc

**Miishai: You guys gave me the encouragement and I just decided to go along with it. xD My hands had been itching to write about MarkoxSanjiko fics anyway. I like certain genderbent fics too and crack pairings had always been a turn on for me. :P At the same time, it's kind of lonely when you realize that you're the only one in the community who writes this pairing. Whenever I used the filter to look for Marco and Sanji, my heart died a bit. D:**

**Yeah, the child was Sanjiko. I thought it should be obvious with the song she was singing? xD It's called 'Sea blue See you' and it's Little!Sanji's character song sung by the voice actress of Sanji when he was a kid. :D You should listen to it if you haven't, it's freaking adorable and sweet. I have the link up there.**

**It's because of her healing abilities. :P When in Phoenix form, the speed of her regeneration rivals the time it took to harm her.**

**Muffins: Thank you so much! I'm glad that you liked my MarcoxSanji fics. Most people tends not to give crack pairings a chance but I can kind of understand xD You should ship those two too-/slapped**

**Aimiko: Nope, it's 'Hoof of the Flying Dragon' and I've searched up one piece's wikia for it too. :3 And nope, it was inspired by the other two Fem!Marco fanfics on this site. I forgot what the names are but it is also related to slavery. **

**alniyat: Yes I did! 8'D Yes, the child is Sanjiko and she would be eight years old at that time. I kind of feel bad at the same time for torturing Marko but... I've always wanted to try writing the plot for a long time now. :x**

**Maria Rianki: Yep! This chapter would be the timeskip. And yeah, there are definitely going to be angst later on so the light-heartedness is the first few chapters is just a warm up-for me, LOL! And yeah, Sanjiko wouldn't lose out to her counterpart too. :DD**

* * *

_The girl gave a loud scream when the whip fell onto her skin once more._

_"Dare to challenge me, eh? You're dead wrong if you think you're going to get off free for embarrassing me in the city. You're just a useless little pet, an item, and I'll beat this into you even if I have to."_

_The whipping continued for a few more rounds before the whip was tossed to the side. Her master walked towards her, squatted down to her level and pulled onto her hair harshly. Marko tried to hold back her tears the best she could and opened her eyes briefly to give him a glare. How dare he try to command her around like that? _

_"Are you going to listen to whatever I say from now on?"_

_The defiant stare didn't waver._

_"So that's your answer. Fine. Have it your way. Don't blame me for not being merciful," her master warned and released his hold, causing Marko to fall onto the ground painfully. "They say that time is needed for a pet to become obedient after all."_

_He sneered down at her and laid down his foot on her back hard before kicking her in the sides towards the wall. Marko bit her lips as her back was slammed against the hard stoned surface. She knew that she wouldn't be let off for attempting to bite her master during one of their walks. He took things too far with the humiliation which made her get worked up so suddenly. Was she scared? Maybe, she was but she will never admit it to this bastard and retaliated in anger instead. It didn't work well either way but at least hearing his 'friends' whispering around him was satisfactory for her._

_Her master wasn't so pleased, however. He used lifted up his foot and slammed the tip of his shoe against Marko's mouth while laughing boisterously. Yes, he finally got another sound from her and he wasn't going to stop here._

_"Say, have you ever been touched?"_

_At Marko's look of confusion and anger, he chuckled._

_"I suppose not. Silly me for asking. No one would want to touch someone as ugly as you," her master insulted and removed his foot from her mouth so that he could squat again. He placed his hand on her breasts, eliciting a shiver and a look of repulsion from her. "But I have to admit that you have an admirable body. It would be a waste to leave it untouched, wouldn't it?"_

_Don't you dare, Marko thought venomously while glaring at him as threatening as she could._

_"Oh don't worry. I wouldn't even dream of touching a filth like you," her master reassured her. "Instead, my boys (the other slaves) are becoming more obedient so I was thinking that I should use you as a reward instead."_

_Marko wanted to snap at him, snarl, bite, sneer and bite him. _

_"They will be over in a while. I'll see how /you/ will entertain me."_

_True to his words, Marko's next nightmare walked into the room. All of them had pleasing smirks on their face at the prospect of enjoying a day. They had been held captive too and their willpower broke down during the process, leaving them mentally vulnerable. They would listen to any orders no matter how preposterous and drool at the word 'reward' regardless of how they are supposed to claim it._

_Marko had to endure as they took her body that night. It was merciless and cruel to have her first time taken away upon her master's orders. In return, the sight of her breaking down, musical screams and begging couldn't be more pleasing for his sick entertainment._

* * *

It was already morning. Marko gave a low grumble in disdain as the light shone onto her face She tried to flip sideways to block it but found that she couldn't. Curious, she opened her eyes and tried to find the source of whatever that was stopping her, only to finally look down and found a pair of hands settling comfortably against her breasts. With a small twitch of her eyebrow, she mentally prayed that those hands would be off by the time she becomes fully awake.

"Five more minutes, mom..." the owner of said hands mumbled.

A vein popped up on her forehead. "Sachi! Get your hands off my chest and your ass out of my bed!" Marko barked angrily. "How the hell did you even get into my room again? Why are you always sleeping with me, yoi?!"

"Too noisy... Five more minutes, mom..."

"I'm not your mom, yoi!" Marko shouted and shoved Sachi off the bed. "What a morning to wake up to," she grumbled.

Sachi landed on the floor with a loud thump and was finally awake-two-third awake, to be exact. Marko always had a feeling that Sachi had always been like this all the time because of the things she spoke sounded like rubbish spewed from sleep-talking. What was worse that after Anne, seemingly someone produced by Sachi's vagina, settled down around, her days had gotten twice as worse.

"So cold, Marko. I only sneaked into your bed because I was worried that you'd get up again and start working," Sachi whined.

"That doesn't explain why your hands are on my chest!"

"I forgot to bring my pillows so I thought that you would make a better substitution. Come on, we have been best friends for more than ten years! Can't you pamper me a bit?"

"It depends on how and the amount of decency it retains," Marko snapped and threw her pillow at Sachi's face.

"Meanie!"

Ignoring Sachi's cries, Marko went to the bathroom to ready herself for the day.

After escaping from her hell hole, she had somehow landed on an island belonging to the Captain of the ship she is currently in. Whitebeard. She could never forget the day the man brought her to the ship and offered her hospitality. Of course, she was skeptical towards the unexpected kindness but was reminded of the little child's actions back on the cruise. After staying on the ship for a few more weeks and getting to know the people around, she found it harder to leave and accepted the offer to join as a pirate.

Sachi was the first to introduce herself and attempt to make her comfortable around. She was also the one who taught her how to fight before Marko started to develop her own fighting style through experience. Not only that, Sachi also explained to her that her 'cursed powers' was actually from a devil fruit that made her a devil fruit ability user and explained the weakness Marko inherited for it too. In addition, she also told her that Whitebeard is also a user but with different abilities.

Fourteen years brought her to what she is now, Whitebeard's first mate and the first Commander of the infamous Whitebeard Pirates.

"Are you going to sit there forever, yoi?" Marko asked after emerging from the bathroom.

"You're harsh, Marko," Sachi complained and stood up.

"Maybe I would be nicer if you didn't sneak into my bed while I was sleeping and touched me!"

"But it's fun to ruffle your feathers," Sachi argued and decided not to make any more bird jokes for the day when Marko gave her an unamused gaze. "Don't you remember after the first few days you came aboard? We slept together until god-knows when."

"Don't make it sound like I was asking for that when you were the one who barged into my room and wouldn't take 'no' for an answer!"

"I don't want my best friend to be lonely!"

"You know I stopped buying that when you started to prank me."

Sachi pouted and pressed her pointer fingers against each other in an innocent manner. "You're way too stiff and I want to help you loosen up. You work way too much and hardly takes a day off. Even when you do, you still continue working. Even pops get worried if he had put too much responsibilities on you when it was actually you looking for it. You'll fall sick one day, I swear!"

Marko rolled her eyes. "You guys worry too much. I'm fine, yoi. I don't really... play around anyway and I can relax more when I'm working."

"You're insane!"

"There's nothing wrong with being a workaholic," Marko snapped. "If I wasn't, I wouldn't be helping you to do your own share of work when you were too lazy to get to it before the deadline."

"Hey! I thought it was because we are best friends."

"You were the one who assumed that, Sachi," Marko reminded and decided to drop the conversation. "Let's not bicker in here anymore, yoi. I need to go upstairs to eat something so that I can regain energy to deal with what you and Anne had planned for today."

"You make it sound like we're out to make your life hell," Sachi pointed out as they made their way towards the mess hall on the ship.

"You guys are already doing a pretty good job at it."

Despite having that being said, Marko couldn't deny that she was completely indifferent towards Sachi and Anne. It was quite the opposite, actually. She knew that their pranks meant no harm and they just simply wanted to have fun. Sachi had already made it a point that she really cared about Marko when she uncharacteristically blew up on her for overworking herself for the nth time. She could tell whenever the blonde was feeling unusual and would leave her schemes to the side so that she could ask Marko about it.

On the other hand, it had been four years since she first met Anne. The freckled teen was a big hit even before she joined the Whitebeard Pirates and became the Second Commander. Whitebeard was amused by the World Government's news on her but didn't personally sought out for her. It was Anne who first intended to take down Whitebeard (Marko had to admit that it was quite a foolish idea) but had gotten defeated within a few heartbeats. Nevertheless, the crew was impressed by Anne's persistence and it was only until the one hundredth attempt in trying to take down their captain that Marko finally decided to have a talk with Anne. She didn't know how but it worked and Anne soon opened up too.

The three of them became the closest with one another out of the crew.

Sachi treated Marko as a little sister while Marko looked after Anne like how a big sister would.

"Ah ha!"

Followed by the cry, a pair of hands landed themselves nicely on her chest... again.

"Definitely D cups, alright!"

"God damn it, Anne!" Marko snapped and tried to remove her hands away. "Why did you and Sachi constantly try to go for there? If you guys are itching for it, just grab each other's breasts or better yet, your own!"

Anne snickered. "Sachi doesn't react as well as you do," she commented and started to grope in awe. "Man, I wish mine were as big as yours. I've decided. I'm going to name your boobs 'Anne' and 'Luffyko'!"

"What the hell? That's really disturbing, yoi! Don't even try naming someone else's body parts, you pervert!"

Sachi laughed loudly and had some difficultly in stopping. Oh Marko could help her with that, alright. Once she finally gets Anne off her so she could just throw Sachi and her pompous hair overboard the ship with her own bare hands. Anne will be following along depending on how is she going to please Marko in forgiving her.

"Luffyko~" Anne purred as she buried her face against Marko's chest. "I missed you so much, my dear little sister!"

"Are you drunk, yoi? And stop calling it after your little sister! You're going to meet her in a few days anyway so control yourself," Marko asserted. "Don't do that, yoi!" Marko seriously felt like throwing Anne overboard when she started to snuggle against her. Finally, she managed to push Anne away and took a few steps back to save herself.

"Your top is pretty revealing. I would be surprised if there wasn't any guys who hadn't tried to pounce on you yet," Sachi pointed out.

"I'll just pound them to the ground if they even think about it," Marko retorted.

The reason why she was dressed like that was the same reason why Anne intended to parade around the world naked. The Whitebeard mark was on her chest (she didn't give it much thought of where it would be at first and she didn't want anyone to look at her back) and it was only when after she had grown more accustomed to the crew that she decided not to hide it. Even though she wasn't shameful of showing it, she used to dress more conservatively to protect herself. Now that she could deliver a massive ass kicking, she felt safer in dressing like this. On top of that, it was one of Whitebeard's alliance that recommended it to her, saying that she could use her body to her advantage.

It wasn't that Marko had made this her own strategy. She just preferred to settle things quickly with her fists when it was all she had to do.

Because of her past, she had also gotten used to people staring at her in a negative way and learnt not to give a hoot. She was still, however, sensitive when the topic of slavery and monsters were brought about. It was what her former master always tormented with. Marko had always been referred to simply being ugly so looks and outer appearance didn't affect her much.

"I'm finally going to see Luffyko in five years!" Anne cheered.

"We heard that already," Sachi said dryly.

Marko chuckled along in amusement. It seemed that she wasn't the only one who had her ears talked off regarding someone's precious little sister. Anne could be an extreme chatterbox whenever the name Monkey D. Luffyko pops out. When Anne showed them a wanted poster of the Strawhat Captain, they could see an uncanny resemblance between both siblings and it wasn't just the looks. Their wide grins meant that some shit was about to get real and people around them won't stay sane for long.

"It's a good thing that you were in the other half of the Grand Line at that time and left a note with your Den Den Mushi number back in Drum," Sachi said.

"Well, I was sure that Luffyko would have to head to Drum so I left a note there. I wanted to meet up with her at another city but duties call and I was told to come back here. Either way, I'm glad to be able to communicate with her until now. She wanted to come to the New World right away but she suddenly changed plans. Glad that she did. The New World is no laughing matter."

"I believe that for the first year, she called you up three times every single day," Marko pointed out. "And when she didn't for a day, you start to freak out and made me fly you over to her when you don't even know where she is. Forget about the New World, you wouldn't stop fidgeting even when she was in the other half."

Anne huffed. "Hey, I need to protect my little sister!"

"It turned out unneeded in the end when it turned out to be that she was just having too much fun in Thriller Bark. I don't know how anyone can have fun in there. I heard that it has a creepy atmosphere and full of weird spirits," Sachi remarked. "Not only that, it was also owned by a Shichibukai, Gekko Moriah and most rookies would be smart enough to avoid them at all costs."

"You just said most, Sachi. Luffyko is definitely not your average person," Anne reminded with a smirk.

"Yes, you told us that before too, yoi," Marko said in amusement.

Really. She wondered how this meeting would turn out.

* * *

Woo! Chapter two is finished and I can't wait to jump to Chapter three. Reviews are greatly appreciated, guys! :DD


	3. That Little Sister and Her Crew

I gave in to temptation once again and decided to type this fic out first xD I realized that it was kind of difficult for me to write a genderbent fic seeing how often I almost made the mistake of writing their original genders instead of the genderswapped. DX It may come in future chapters (probably even this) without me knowing so I apologize in advance and will appreciate it if you would point it out to me. I sometimes tend to subconsciously skip a few lines no matter how much I re-read. :/

As a request from Bluebird24, I'll explain the change in timeline for this fic! First thing is that this fic is AU so you'd probably expect changes. It's still in the One Piece world but there are major changes (about three quarter) as compared to the anime. The reason why the timeline is different because in order for Marko to meet Sanjiko, it has to change in my fic. And for Marko to become a First Commander prior to the time after she joined until the Strawhat Pirates made their debut. I gave her fourteen years which is really the best I could give. I would've increased the numbers but it wouldn't work out well. On the other hand, this takes place right after the Strawhat Pirates went through Punk Hazard and their age had been increased by one compared to the anime. I hope that clear things up! If it doesn't then feel free to PM me or ask when you review! :D

On the other hand, I've drawn another two pictures for this fic. :D Eventhoughit'skindofbad. (Remove four spaces for both links!)

Display image for this fic, Timeskip!Luffyko, Zoroko VS Sanjiko, Mermaid!Sanjiko, Gijinka!Cherry: img199. imageshack. us /img199/9345/scan0002fa. jpg

Fem!MarcoxFem!Sanji (Eight pictures of them), a thank you note from le writer: img33. imageshack. us /img33/6718/scan0003woc. jpg

**azab: Thank you! I try my best to make this fic as good as I can! ;D**

**Maria Rianki: I couldn't either and that's why I updated this today. xD I bet she is a pervert and thinks that it's natural to do so. LOL! But Anne wouldn't be this way around Luffyko... not so obviously, at least. :P I didn't know about the slang but thanks for telling me. Ahahahaha! I can't believe I unintentionally used that. :X Other than the monster trio, the Whitebeard trio would be my second favourite. :P**

**Miishai: Don't worry, Marko will have her revenge... someday. Thanks for letting me know! I can't believe I made another mistake like that. Dx It's difficult to write genderbent fics when I'm so used to writing their original characters for a month now. :x Or maybe it's just me. You should go and have a listen. It's really adorable and soothing at the same time. :D**

**Bluebird24: I'm glad that you liked this one as well. I can sort of understand since not many people would give a crack pairing such as this a chance. xD I don't really read stories other than romance so I can sort of understand. And sure! I wasn't sure exactly what kind of explanation you're asking for but I'll explain what it's in my mind anyway. If it's wrong, just let me know and I'll try to explain in the next chapter!**

**alniyat: Probably quite high seeing how I'm just as a revengeful person as anyone. :D The humor wouldn't be long-lived though since I have something planned ahead already which is quite rare because I usually go by impromptu for my fics. LOL! Hmm, maybe the song will play a part in this but I won't say anything more. :D Great that you loved it! I fell in love with the song too after listening to it for the first time myself.**

* * *

Two weeks later, the Whitebeard Pirates were awaiting for the arrival of the Strawhat Pirates. They had agreed to rendezvous on a nearby island after exchanging their coordinates with each other. They were supposed to meet a week ago but only after a few days passed, Anne was informed that the Strawhat Pirates had went into Punk Hazard upon Luffyko's orders. It was so like Luffyko.

Meanwhile, Marko and Sachi had a hard time trying to calm Anne down during the day they were initially supposed to meet. The freckled female was sure that something must've happened to Luffyko as she usually never backs down on her word unless something else caught her attention or she was being stopped by the Marines.

The Marines in the New World were completely different from the ones in the other half of the Grand Line. They were complete merciless people who could be worse than the pirates outside the Grand Line. Anne had personally ran into some and escaped before they could carry out their tortures. It was obviously easy enough for Anne to deal with them but she wasn't sure if the Strawhat Pirates were still ready. Even though three years had already passed since Luffyko made her debut as a pirate, Anne could almost guess how would she be loafing around than seeking out to fight people to make herself stronger.

Never did she know, Luffyko was more of a danger magnet than anyone could ever imagine.

Now, the wait was finally over and Anne was waiting in anticipation to meet her little sister. When the Thousand Sunny and it's flag came into view, Anne jumped on her spot like a kid with bundle amount of energy and rushed to it despite her companions' calls.

"Lu-ffy-ko!" Anne shouted and waved her arms madly.

"Anne!" Luffyko called back and returned the gesture. Before the Thousand Sunny neared the shore, Luffyko had already stretched her rubbery arms back to fly over and tackle Anne in a big hug. "It's been a long time!"

"Yeah and who was the one who kept us waiting?" Anne replied playfully and captured Luffyko in a headlock.

Luffyko pouted but made no attempt to escape from her grasp. "I couldn't help it. The island was so near and I thought that I'd take a look at it for a bit. I didn't expect it to take so long."

"Yeah, right."

Marko and Sachi took this time to interrupt their reunion while the other pirates, including Whitebeard remained a few distance away.

"So this is the little sister that Anne had been talking our ears off about," Sachi commented and bent her body towards Luffyko. "She is kind of cute as you described, Anne. Although, you didn't really use any words other than that."

"I'm not cute! I'm going to be the Pirate King!"

"See? I told you that she's cute," Anne said.

"I'm not!"

"She does seem to have a lot of potential even though you always refer her as an air-head," Marko mused. "But I'm surprised that the both of you are related. Your sister grows a lot more than you in terms of what you've always been going for from me."

Anne blinked at her in confusion and looked below Luffyko's chin to finally get what she was talking about. Her eyes immediately widened and she suddenly let go of Luffyko so that she could place her hands on Luffyko's chest to check if what she was seeing was real. Despite praying in her head that it wasn't, she came to realize that it was instead.

"How could this happen?! It has only been five years, Lu! Five years! Do you have a monstrous growth spurt or something? Why do you have C cup chest? And it's almost D-cup in fact!"

"Eh? It is? I never knew," Luffyko replied while being oblivious.

"This can't be happening to me!" Anne cried.

"Ignoring your perverted and batshit crazy sister, where are the rest of your crew, yoi?" Marko asked.

"Oh! Now that you mentioned it." Luffyko turned her head just in time to see the Thousand Sunny docking at the shore. When the crew members got off the ship together, the girl waved her arm at them. "Guys! Over here!"

"We can see you, dumbass!" Zoroko yelled back before grumbling. "Tch, that girl."

When the Strawhat Pirates were closer, the Whitebeard Pirates were finally able to see Anne's little sister's crew. At first, they were surprised at the majority of them being females while there were only two males in the party. Afterwards, all of them with the exception of Whitebeard, jumped back in shock when they saw the tallest member in their crew. Anne, Marko and Sachi were also taken aback.

With a shaky finger, Anne pointed at the member.

"Luffyko... I think there is something that is not supposed to be in your crew."

"Huh? What are you talking about? All of them are my friends!"

"Anne! I thought you said you were lying when you told us your sister would eat humans when she gets hungry!" Sachi exclaimed.

The freckled teen held up her hands in defense while her eyes were still wide. "I was! Luffyko would never resort to eating a human... or would she?" Anne faced Luffyko and looked at her warily. "You know, you might want to try keeping your friends as long as you can. I understand that you don't like it when you're hungry but you can't eat someone till their skeleton! Hell, I thought you hated meat!"

"I do," Luffyko replied, still not getting what Anne was talking about.

"If you're referring to Brooko, she's already like this when we first met her," Sanjiko informed.

Anne, Marko and Sachi let out a sigh of relief but their guard still wasn't down. There was a skeleton right in front of them. How would anyone be able to stay calm? It definitely isn't what you get to see everyday.

"Yohohoho! Sanjiko is right. I'm Brooko and the reason why I'm like this is because... of a very long story."

"No it isn't. You died, ate the Yomi Yomi no Mi and was revived by its powers," Namizou said impatiently and shook his head. Then, he went ahead to introduce the crew seeing how Luffyko wasn't going to do so. "My name is Namizou and I'm from the East Blue. The green-haired swordsman is Zoroko and the blonde beside her is Sanjiko."

"Don't introduced us like we're a set!" Zoroko snapped.

"Don't talk back to Namizou-sama like this!" Sanjiko growled.

Ignoring them, Namizou continued on with the list. "The other guy is Robizou while the long-nosed girl is Usoko. Franko is the tall robot-"

"I'm a cyborg!"

"-and lastly, we have Cherry the reindeer."

"Hello, nice to meet you!" Cherry greeted cheerfully.

The three Whitebeard Commanders looked down at Cherry then back at Luffyko.

"A cyborg, a talking reindeer and a skeleton," Anne listed them off while looking at Luffyko with an indescribable expression. "I have to say that you have a very... varied crew. I bet you weren't thinking much when you recruited them like always, right?"

"But don't they crack you up?" Luffyko asked and snickered.

Anne shook her head in exasperation and gave her a wry grin as though she had already expected this sort of thing coming from Luffyko. She had always thought that Luffyko would have a very unique crew but this was way above her expectations. Well, Luffyko had always been unpredictable and surprised many people around her although it usually ended up having them face-palming at her antics. She could bet that Luffyko didn't even have a recruitment condition for those who wanted to join.

Did they even have a choice in the first place?

"But to be able to get this far, the crew must be just as impressive," Marko pointed out in amusement.

"What do you guys do?" Sachi asked.

"I cut with my swords," Zoroko replied.

"I cook for the crew," Sanjiko said.

"I navigate and create maps," Namizou said.

"I am an archeologist," Robizou simply said.

"I'm a doctor," Cherry informed happily.

"I'm the shipwright and also the one who created Thousand Sunny," Franko said proudly.

"I'm a skeleton who plays the violin," Brooko said.

"I'm the great Captain Usoko!"

Zoroko, Sanjiko, Cherry, Franko and Namizou stared at him while Robizou chuckled in amusement.

"...I make weapons," Usoko corrected meekly.

"And she also lies! Shishishishi!"

"Oi!"

Anne laughed. "Your crew is definitely unique, alright," she commented. "Oh, and I almost forgot. The one with the banana haircut and inhumane boobs is Marko. The other one with the pompous haircut is Sachi."

"Yours just aren't growing, yoi."

"That was a lame introduction! And my haircut isn't weird," Sachi retorted.

"The rest of the people, sitting over there, are part of the Whitebeard Crew. It's quite troublesome to introduce all of them here so you can get to know them later on. The huge captain there is Whitebeard, naturally. He's the greatest pirate I've ever known," Anne said with a proud grin.

"S-So this i-is Whitebeard," Usoko stuttered in fright in the presence of the strong.

"May I see your-"

Namizou knocked Brooko out with her weapon before she could finish her sentence. They definitely do not need her to ask stupid questions right now and in front of such an important person. He tends to value his life too even though her crew, with the exception of Usoko and Cherry, seemed to doesn't half the time.

"Hmm? What was that?" Whitebeard asked.

"Nothing! Nothing at all," Namizou quickly replied nervously. "Pleased to meet you... um, Captain Whitebeard."

"Gurararara! Just Whitebeard will do. You're our Anne's little sister's crew so we can skip the formalities. I can sense that your crew is different from many others," Whitebeard remarked.

"So you're Anne's captain," Luffyko said from her position beside him.

"When did that idiot get there?" Zoroko asked while one of her eyebrows twitched in irritation. She knew that Luffyko was nothing but trouble when it comes to her needing to behave herself.

"Since Anne likes you then you must be a good person," Luffyko remarked with a firm nod as though she had just discovered a mysterious kind of shit. "But no matter what, /I/ will be the one to be the Pirate King!"

At that moment, everyone with the exception of the Strawhat Pirates and Anne thought that Luffyko had gone mad. The rest already knew that she was crazy. Whitebeard stared down at the girl without smiling while Luffyko looked back at him defiantly and didn't back down an inch. She was brave, very brave but stupid, the Whitebeard pirates thought. Usoko was trembling and fearing for Luffyko's life for standing up to and challenging the world's greatest pirate.

Instead, Whitebeard laughed and grinned. "What an amusing brat. Good luck on your quest," Whitebeard said simply.

"I will!" Luffyko answered in determination.

Usoko and Cherry gave a sigh of relief when Whitebeard didn't react like how they imagined. They were actually worried for Luffyko out there. Zoroko and Sanjiko weren't concerned though. If they had to fight, they will fight no matter who the enemy was. Namizou wanted to hit Luffyko for being reckless again while Robizou was just as amused as his captain's antics as usual. Brooko laughed along merrily and obviously didn't understand much of what had happened. Frankie... well, she was just in between of everything.

"You really have an odd little sister, yoi," Marko commented afterwards.

"I told you so, didn't I?" Anne grinned at her.

"Challenging pops like that. This girl really have lots of guts," Sachi mused while looking in Luffyko's direction. "But she is definitely your little sister, alright. We can't forget about the time you tried to take down pops yourself."

Anne gave her a pout. "That was a long time ago."

"You still did try, yoi."

"I'm not going to talk to you guys anymore!"

"Hey, Marko. Want to bet how long it will last? I bet she will start crying to us within a minute."

"No way. You already got the best bet, yoi."

"Demons, the lot of you!" Anne cried out and threw her arms up in defeat.

Marko and Sachi grinned back at her while mentally praising each other for their work. Who said that Marko had to be the one being teased all the time? It was fun seeing either Anne or Sachi getting pissed off sometimes. The first Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates understood why the both of them liked making her blow her top half the time. That doesn't mean she was going to remain that way for the rest of her lives. Maybe it's about time she started grasping their tactics of making other people mad.

"Luffyko! You can't eat those leaves!" Anne cried out from the distance.

Anne would be spared for the time being.

* * *

Once again, take a look at the pictures I've drawn for this fic! One of them contains a small little spoiler (Seriously nothing big) and no, I'm not turning Sanjiko into a mermaid. XD Remove four spaces and you're good to go!

Display image for this fic, Timeskip!Luffyko, Zoroko VS Sanjiko, Mermaid!Sanjiko, Gijinka!Cherry: img199. imageshack. us /img199/9345/scan0002fa. jpg

Fem!MarcoxFem!Sanji (Eight pictures of them), a thank you note from le writer: img33. imageshack. us /img33/6718/scan0003woc. jpg

Hope you enjoy it! Oh by the way guys... what do you think of SachixZoroko? -Avoid death glares-

Review, yeah? :D


	4. Oops! Shit Just Escalated

So I'm back to this fic again. I just can't stop thinking about it even when I was working on other stuffs. LOL! I swear that this will be the last update until I update at least one of my other fics. But it shouldn't be too long. XD Just to note that from this chapter on words, there may be sexual contents (nothing too explicit as I've mentioned). But if it gets too out of hand, I'll be sure to put a warning beforehand so you guys could skip it, deal?

Been a little pissy of late by the people I've met on the net. LOL! If there is one thing that I really hate to see on the internet, it's those people you would call praise wh*res or in 's term, review wh*res. I ranted enough on my profile page so I'm not even going to start here. Just going to noms on some mentos to calm my tits.

**Miishai: Possibly what you were thinking about. XD But come on, Brook won't be Brook, regardless of genders, if he/she doesn't ask for the more unique parts. LOL! Thank you! I came across another small comic on mini!phoenix and I immediately fell in love with it. If you want to imagine how does Marco's bird looked like in Problematic Kids, then you got it right there. :D **

**I know, right? His voice, when a child, sound so angelic. But it wouldn't sound much different when it comes to Sanjiko since girls' voices doesn't change too much. I think?**

**Maria Rianki: Definitely angst in this chapter but Marko wouldn't recognize Sanjiko yet. Not so soon, at least. You know how long winded I tend to get. Unless you guys want me to jump straight to the plot, just slap me and say, "Get to the point, beetch!" xD **

**Right, Zoroko wouldn't be easy to budge. But Sachi is also the kind who would let insults fly over her head without rebutting too harshly. :P Maybe she would play a prank or two on her in return. Ohohoho! Yes! Ship 'em! Ship 'em more. It makes me happy! :D**

**alniyat: Probably nothing good judging from the genre :P Sketches are what I can do so far since I've lost my inking pen. XD And I get stomach cramps when I try to color (I just kind of do). But I'm happy that you liked it even though it wasn't very professionally done! QAQ LOL! It's alright. You don't have to be so serious in guessing. :DDb**

**I swear, I dish out so many crack pairings that even I thought that I should have my brains checked. :'D I just felt as though I've comitted so many sins-/slapped**

**Bluebird24: No problem and yep! Those never happened but Luffyko and his gang did get trained by the respective places that Kuma sent them flying to. Like I said, most of the things you can find in anime wouldn't exist in this plot. I will mention it if they do though, whether in the future chapters or in AN. :DD Awww, I can imagine Anne trying to do that to Luffyko too. ; ; But first, she's going to bathe her. LOL!**

**azab: Thanks a lot! And nope, why would Luffyko get Anne back? XD Sanjiko didn't recognize Marko because she was very young at that time (I couldn't even remember how nonsensical was I when I was ten xD) while Marko didn't lift her head up or looked at Sanjiko at that time. :3 **

* * *

"Have you guys read the newspaper? The government made you guys the headlines for the incident at Shabaody Archipelago," one of the Whitebeard pirates said as he turned the newspaper that he was reading to let them have a better look.

Headlines: Strawhat Pirates escaped from marines stationed at Shabaody Archipelago.

The content was about how they managed to take a dive into the marines' plan to capture them but in the end, avoided capture with unexpected help from the Kuja Pirates and a few disfigured faces were shown on the article picture too.

The rest of the space were taken by respective wanted posters of the Strawhat Pirates.

"Where the heck am I?" Sanjiko demanded.

"What are you talking about? That's obviously you," Luffyko pointed out helpfully towards the picture of the back of a person's head.

"How could you even tell that it was me?" It was Sanjiko, alright. Other than the bounty, which everyone doubted that Luffyko would use that to identify, it was kind of no way to tell that it was her. "How could they screw this up again? First, a completely horrible drawn picture of shit-knows-who and now they pull this kind of shit? Shitty newspaper, shitty pictures!"

Zoroko took the newspaper. "It's fine, isn't it? It's not like it would make a difference if your face were to be shown."

"What was that, you shitty marimo?"

"I'm saying that they won't be making more money even if they got your face right, Princess of the dumbass Kingdom."

"I think that the previous photo of you was more accurate though," Luffyko said.

"How was that accurate?!" Sanjiko yelled in anger as a burst of flame emerged from her body.

"Did she eat some kind of devil fruit? I thought that Anne already ate the Mera Mera No Mi," Sachi asked in awe. "Because this is the first time I've seen a normal human bursting into real flames. Oh, and it's kind of hot too."

Namizou shook his head and sighed. "There's just something wrong with her."

"If that picture was really that badly drawn, then wouldn't it be considered a good thing seeing that she wouldn't be recognized in public? It's more of an advantage, yoi," Marko pointed out.

"The thing is that... people could recognize her with it. Here," Cherry said and took out the wanted poster from before. No one even bothered to ask why does she have that with her right now.

"Hey, it really does look alike," Sachi commented.

"Which part of it looks alike?!" Sanjiko demanded hotly.

"...All of it?"

"Are you honestly blind?!"

Marko placed herself in between them and held out her hands as a sign for them to stop. "Stop fighting, children. Whether it looks alike or not, it doesn't really matter now, does it? You can always submit a photo of yourself as anonymous if you wanted for it to change, yoi."

"That's what you did, didn't you?" Sachi accused.

"That was because /you/ gave them a picture of a pineapple under my name!" Marko yelled and threw a watermelon at her head. The worse part was that they actually accepted it. Marko wanted to storm over there, shake them by their collars and try to understand how they could pass off that photo as her. It's like, 'oh hey, we don't have a picture of her. But someone agrees that her head looks like a pineapple. Her crew even gave us a picture of a pineapple so let's just capture a pineapple and execute it'.

Wouldn't it be funny if they actually did? It will be alright, when Marko appears at the execution platform as the executioner to chop off Sachi's head. Maybe it was her fault to refuse to have her picture properly taken (she was in the air most of the time during fights) or heed Sachi's advise to do so but that didn't mean she wanted to be a laughing stock for her life.

What Marko did afterwards was, submit a proper picture of herself with Sachi lying bloodied on the ground in the background and Anne in fright.

Her bounty kind of increased tenfolds because of that.

* * *

After getting to know each other more and trying to stop Luffyko from eating grass, the group finally settled down to a late night party. There wasn't much reason to have one other than Anne, who wanted to enjoy her time with Luffyko as much as she could, and alcohol. But everyone knows the reason why Whitebeard agreed to it was because of the alcohol. If not, they'd be sailing somewhere underwater to catch some large fishes. The ones on the surface was never enough to feed their crew and large captain. Why do you think they have their ships coated often, huh?

Anne had already told Luffyko and her team beforehand to get some alcohol before meeting up with them. Marko was angry when she found out but figured that it wouldn't be bad only after giving their own captain a ban for two weeks. Whitebeard obviously didn't care about what the nurses advised him for the sake of his health and apparently, Anne shared the same view. Thatch was just as easy-going as ever.

And they wondered why Marko was the mama of the crew. Those idiots couldn't even take care of themselves!

It's really a sad thing that her devil fruit abilities didn't allow her to get drunk too. Marko would be glad to retire for the night without getting hogged for trying to get back onto the ship. On second thought, she feared what would happen to her if she were to pass out with Sachi and Anne in sight.

"Luffyko, you're so adorable," Anne mumbled while hugging her little sister fondly.

"I'm not!" Luffyko argued back childishly and tried to squirm free from Anne's tight hold. She never liked being coddled too much ever since she started growing up under Anne's care. "Wah! Your breath stinks. I don't like it," she whined.

"Hey, it's only my second drink and can't you play along? I haven't seen you in five years."

"But it still smells nasty!"

"You're the one who smells bad. How long had it been since you've bathed again?"

"Six days. I'm going to bathe tomorrow."

"Six days? Six freaking days?!" Anne exclaimed while she could feel her eyes bulging out at the information. "I leave you alone for five years and this is what you've become? A normal person would bathe every single day. You're a girl, for crying out loud! Even Marko and Sachi bathes everyday."

Luffyko puffed out her cheeks in retaliation and looked at Anne in defiance. "I hate bathing! It makes me feel weak when I get under the shower!"

"Ahem, I'm also a devil fruit ability user, you idiot. But that didn't stop me from being clean!"

"I don't care about that!"

"I'm going to scrub you down everyday!"

"No, you aren't!"

As two siblings argued, the people around them were slowly being weeded out from the party. Either they've fallen asleep or talking to themselves in their drunken state. Zoroko and Namizou were having a drinking contest after a bet that they've met. It had to be over money, that was for sure. Cherry couldn't drink so she stayed out of the zone along with Robizou. At least the adult knew his limits and refused to get drunk because of the embarrassing things that might happen if he did. Usopp was already out and Sanjiko was uttering nonsense.

"Besides, you know how much I hate wa-Sanjiko?" Luffyko called out when she noticed the blonde cook walking towards them weirdly.

"Nnngh... Namizou-sama, where are you?" Sanjiko mumbled. Her face was flushed and her eyes were glazed over with an unfocused look. To anyone else, it looked more as though she was about to cry. But no, she wasn't. "Nami...zou-sama."

Her gaze was now onto Anne and a thought bubble appeared.

Namizou. Anne.

Namizou equals to Anne.

Anne equals to Namizou.

Their chest.

"Oi!" Anne exclaimed over the indirect insult towards her chest size. She wanted to say more to argue but stopped herself when Sanjiko was making her way over to her with a longing look. The freckled teen already knew that this meant bad news. "Sanjiko? Hey, snap out of it. I'm not your navigator! My chest isn't that flat!"

"Namizou-sama... you look as great as always," Sanjiko murmured happily as she made a grab for Anne's hand while giving her a disturbing, loving look. "I'll give birth to as many babies as you want. -hic- Just name it, hic!"

Anne shook her head furiously. "I don't want your babies! I can't have babies with you! Hell, I don't even know you!"

"Namizou-sama is so silly, hic. But it's okay. I'll still love Namizou-sama with all my heart. I live my life for the sake of you. I... I..." Sanjiko leaned over, closed her eyes and was readying herself for a kiss.

The warning lights in Anne's head had went off at that moment and she already knew what Sanjiko was planning to do. While Luffyko was not being helpful but instead in awe of what was happening, Anne reached out her hand quickly, grabbed the other nearest person to her and swapped her position around with the unfortunate victim. Sanjiko didn't notice anything and advanced until her lips touched someone else's.

Marko's eyes widened when she was pulled over to somewhere and her lips suddenly felt weird. Looking down, she was shocked to find that the cook from the Strawhat Pirates crew was kissing her. How did this just happen when Marko wasn't even drunk?!

When Sanjiko broke the kiss, she turned her back and squealed happily. "I finally kissed Namizou-sama~!"

"Whew, that was a close one," Anne said but realized that it wasn't the right thing to say when Marko turned her glare onto her. "H-Hey! She was about to kiss me. What else was I supposed to do? You know that there's already someone else-Ah, not the fire extinguisher! Help!"

"That didn't mean that you have to use me as a scapegoat, yoi!"

"It's been a long time since Marko played around like that," Sachi commented wistfully.

"We're not playing!" Anne shouted while desperately trying to get away from the angry phoenix.

The night then ended with a blast. Literally.

_Marko wanted to bolt when she was being led through the streets of the wealthy country._

_Once again, she had defied her master once more and he found it fitting to punish her through extreme public humiliation. She refused the food he offered to her and even spat it at his face after having the apple shoved in her mouth. Maybe her master knew that it was how she was going to react and wanted to push her buttons more. Simply ordering her around was no fun, punishments were punishments for a fun reason. It was then she repeated in her head that her master was just a sick bastard._

_After stripping her off all of her clothes including her underclothes, he made her crawl once again along their usual route._

_Everyone was staring at her._

_She had never felt so naked in her life. The mark, 'Hoof Of the Flying Dragon' was on her back and within everyone's sight. Even when she was being touched, she could feel their eyes boring through the air so sharply that she could feel hands caressing her skin. _

_"Getting dirty now, my pet?" Her master sneered._

_Marko could only let out a whimper when that foreign sensation increased. Her body was shivering and she didn't know whether it was from the cold or... from something else entirely different. _

_"I... go back..." She wanted to go back. She didn't care if it was her cage or her torture room. Anywhere out of these sickening bastards' sight._

_"Do you really now?"_

_Damn yes, she wanted to!_

_"We haven't even completed half of our journey," her master scolded mockingly, making her hopes drop in a heartbeat. "Why would you want to go back? This is your chance to show off your body to everyone. Even though it's nothing much."_

_"..."_

_"What a demanding pet you are. Alright, I'll let you go back but on one condition..."_

_Marko looked up at him with a hopeful look._

_"Call me master and admit that you're a whore. In front of these people."_

_The hopeful look turned into a horrified gaze. What the hell was he playing at? She was already feeling embarrassed and disgusted to have all these people staring at her. She could hardly speak a coherent sentence. The bastard was obviously testing her, mocking her and demoralizing her. Marko knew that much but yet she also understood that there was nothing else she could do other than to choose her options. Even if she were to remain silent, her master would just take it as a sign to continue their walk which will lead to something more humiliating._

_"I...I..."_

_"Hmm? What was that?"_

_"I..."_

_"If you're not going to hurry up then I have to make you do something to stall for time while you decide to talk. I know, why don't you do a little performance here? I'm sure you must be feeling... dirty enough now, right?"_

_There was no way in hell she would masturbate in front of a crowd!_

_Her deadly gaze just literally spelt out the words, 'Fuck you' but luckily, she was facing the ground._

_"Hello? Anyone in there?" Her master called out and tugged onto the chain._

_Marko bit her lips as to not cry out in pain when her body hit the ground. She could feel the short grass pricking against ever inch of her body that collided against it. The dirt was staining her chest and ants were literally crawling up her skin._

_"Looks like I have you make you cooperate then," her master said and grabbed a fistful of her hair to pull her up. "We are going to have an entertaining show. Gather around, people-"_

_"I..." Marko finally shouted, gaining the attention of her master and the people who started to make their way. "...am a whore, master."_

_"Now, aren't you an honest one," her master complimented and dropped her back onto the ground. "But you took too long to say that. I've already changed my mind, my dear pet. The people won't be satisfied with just that."_

_Marko looked up at him with eyes of betrayal and anger. How dare he?_

_"My friends, my pet is going to put up a lovely show for us."_

_The nobles are truly sick people. They enjoyed seeing slaves or people of a lower status than them being humiliated and having their pride trampled on. No matter how dirty the display, they would watch in disgust while sneering at the lowlife who were made to act upon their master's orders. The possession will always be the one taking the full hit while nobles themselves can never be blamed._

* * *

Here is the end of chapter! Hopefully that you enjoyed this one as well. Don't keep your hopes up though, this happiness won't stay... for long. /slappedhard.

On the other hand, I'm wondering if I should ship Whitebeard with someone. I don't know, maybe Makino?

Damn, I'm sleep talking again. I better get to sleep before you guys start throwing bars of soap at me. /runs

Review, yeah?


	5. That Escalated Pretty Fast

Remember when I said that I'm only going to update this after I've updated at least one of the other two? Yeah, I kind of did it way better than before and here is the third chapter I'm writing. My hands were getting tired but I only continued writing passionately as I waited for my The Sims 3 game to get over it's lagging minutes after minutes in annoyance.

**Bluebird42: While I was being extremely stubborn in keeping this fic angst, the humor came out pretty unexpected from my fingers. 8'D I think I can't handle a full out angst fic after all. OTL I don't like those nobles too! Those damnable bastards. D: Back to the Start? I wasn't planning on updating it anytime soon but if a reader asks for it... I'll try to get it in a few days or so. Even tomorrow if I have the time. xD Considering how long I've left it aside, I guess one update wouldn't hurt. :x**

**Portgas D. Paula: Sorry! I tend to make careless mistakes unknowingly. TTATT The chapter has been edited :D**

**alniyat: I'll still feel that guilt in my cheeeest! QAQ It seemed that I've kept humor and angst in just one chapter. I've always wondered if I could manage doing that a few months ago but it seemed like it worked out without much complaint. Again, I'm happy that my fic brightens your day. I can understand having crappy days though since it's kind of what I'm having when my game starts to lag. x3x**

**Sorry about the images, I tend to do that to my best friends sometimes too. But hey, you have to admit that it was something if it could make someone across the globe wince! :D Nooo! I hate bathing as much as Luffy does! TTATT Not lying about wanting to have Whitebeard getting some love though.**

**Miishai: I tend to do that unknowingly. I swear I was trying to make this fic hundred percent angst! This always happens to me D: And LOL! Yeah, Luffy probably does need scrubbing more than the times my friends repeatedly told me that I needed to wash my damn body. I'm just too lazy and stripping is just too troublesome for me. o 3 o**

**I didn't know that though since I can't remember how my voice sounded like. But thanks for the heads up! At least we know how Marko couldn't recognize Sanjiko just by the voice. :D**

**azab: LOL! I won't. I was just being myself. xD **

* * *

_"Are you sure that you're going to do this?" the woman behind the counter asked skeptically. It wasn't everyday that they could get a potential item that could up their profit to sky heaven._

_"Yes, we're sure," the other lady snapped impatiently. Behind her was a child of twelve years old._

_"Ma...?"_

_"Shush, Marko. We're doing a very important discussion here. Just wait quietly," the mother ushered and turned back to the receptionist. "I've decided to sell her to the auction. How long will it take for us to be able to get the money?"_

_"It will be done instantly, ma'am. Just fill out the form and it'll be done."_

_Marko's mother wasted no more time in filling out the forms. While Marko was still young, she could understand what that conversation meant. Was her mother finally selling her away? She didn't want to be in some weird places. She was never good at adapting and who knows what the people are going to do when they found out of her weird abilities. If her parents were already getting rid of her, she could only imagine what would the people buying her were about to do. Despite her age, she was mature. Maybe it was because she had lived longer than her appearances could vouch for. Her parents were, after all, already growing their white hair now._

_"I don't want to go. Please don't do this," Marko begged while pulling on her mother's skirt._

_Slap!_

_"I said to be quiet, Marko. I'm not going to repeat myself."_

_Like always, it was all it took for the child to stop herself while trying for a possible escape route to this. Her father was around too and she was more fearful of him than her mother. He was keeping an eye on her while being frighteningly silent than usual. It was as though his eyes were glaring daggers at her and daring her to make a move. She may be desperate to escape her fate but in the end, she was nothing but a child._

Marko woke up again and in a much better condition than the other idiots onboard. While she was still being plagued by her nightmares to no end, the alcoholics would soon wake up to a massive splitting headache comparable to a few of Whitebeard's Gura Gura No Mi. As it was said, Marko was lucky to avoid experiencing their pain because of her devil fruit abilities. On the bad side, it was also the same abilities that winded her up in the place that turned into her personal nightmares. They had been replaying through her head for fourteen years already.

How the hell did she manage to survive that?

The first two years wasn't simple. Sachi had pointed out to her that during nighttimes, she'd have a spastic attack or start attacking nearby objects and people without warning. The nurses confirmed that she was traumatized after she had a seizure within crowded areas. Marko didn't know how well she was faring since fourteen years had passed but she still tried to avoid those places the best she could while Whitebeard would also make sure not to send her to an overpopulated village. For four years, she stayed a distance away when the ship was holding a party until she pushed herself to get physically closer to it. She reckoned that the only reason why she was able to do it in the end was because she was familiar with all of them by that time. To her, one member was the same as the other and didn't treat even one as a stranger.

Whenever she thought back on her times onboard the Moby Dick, which she often does, it would also bring up the little child that had helped her. After all, if the child didn't, she'd probably be back at her former master's house eating donkey shit. It was a pity that Marko didn't even get to glance at the child as she was too weak to even lift up her head. But if there was a chance, she would like to meet her before that child's lifespan diminished.

"Mmm..." There was a mumble beneath her.

Marko's eyebrow twitched when she heard it. Every single morning, those two idiots would pull something off to ruin her day. When it wasn't Sachi sneaking into her bed, it would be Anne when it wasn't the braindead flamethrower, it'd be that pompous hairstyle which caught her sight.

"I told you so many damn times not to sneak in my damn bed, you twat," Marko snapped and lifted up the bedsheet. Needless to say, she was surprised when the person who 'snuck' into her bed wasn't neither of the two whom she was originally pissed at.

"Namizou-sama~ Kiss me please," Sanjiko requested, obviously still asleep, as she moved closer towards Marko. As the blonde commander was moving back (who could blame her? She had never have someone wanting to kiss her other than those two morons in her life!), Sanjiko only continued before her eyes opened. Her reaction wasn't that different from that time she unintentionally pulled the same one on Zoroko. "Ah!" she shouted and quickly scrambled backwards, only to fall onto the ground after shuffling near the edge of the bed.

_It was that cook, _Marko thought.

"Wh-wha-How did I get here?" Sanjiko exclaimed and looked down to see that she was only wearing her orange striped shirt (unbuttoned). Literally only that. She quickly grabbed the blanket and covered herself while looking at Marko incredulously. "Why am I almost naked?!" she demanded.

This is what her emotions are at the moment.

Anger. Confusion. Anger. Anger. Confusion. Anger. Confusion. Confusion. Anger. Confusion. Anger. Anger. Anger. Anger. Anger. Anger. Murderous.

"I don't know, yoi," Marko said honestly.

"I-I can't believe this. My first time... it wasn't taken away by Namizou-sama but by a female instead. My entire life is a lie... First I get stuck on that damn island with hideous creatures when Luffyko gets to go to paradise. And now, I was taken by a damn female! I'm in despair! Being fucked by a woman has left me in despair! Get me out of this shitty world! Wake me up, damn it!"

Except, Marko was sure that _she_ didn't fuck her.

"Namizou-sama will be so disappointed in me. He wouldn't even look at me anymore. Robizou-kun is going to be displeased. He won't eat my desserts anymore," Sanjiko continued to rant before she lifted her head up so fast that Marko thought that she could hear a snap. "You enjoyed it, didn't you...?"

"Uh?"

"You were having fun, weren't you?"

"I didn't-"

"You didn't even want that! The sex didn't even have any meaning to it after all. This is the worst shitty day ever," Sanjiko cried and threw the blanket at her. She made a dramatic exit by running out of the door and let out a dramatic cry of, "I hate women!"

Weren't she one though?

Marko shook her head and decided not to ponder more about the cook. How did she get in here anyway? There was no way that someone drunk would be able to get on the ship properly. That was why she had left the other group, who thankfully doesn't drink, to bring as much people onboard as they could so that they could sleep in their own beds while Marko retired early for the night. None of them would be stupid enough to bring Sanjiko to _her_ bed. Marko was sure that they were decent people who wouldn't pull such a crap like some two nincompoops she happened to know.

Wait a minute.

Narrowing her eyes, she went to get changed to her daily wear and stormed her way to Sachi's room first.

A few minutes later.

On the deck, Anne and Sachi shouting while being tied up and hanging from each side of the mast. On their forehead, was written the words 'Incestuous bitch' and 'Scum of the hair'. It should be pretty obvious who had which. At the center of the mast, Marko was in her hybrid form and congratulating herself for a work well done. Payback is a bitch.

"Let us down, Marko! I swear it wasn't me who did it," Sachi cried.

"I was too busy being with Luffyko to pull that thing off! You can ask Luffyko if you want!"

Marko glanced in between them with suspicious eyes. "It has to be either one of you morons. No one else in this ship would be that bored to be playing with fire like the lot of you. If one of you doesn't admit it then both of you can stay here for the rest of the day, yoi."

"I swear it wasn't me!" Both of them shouted.

"Staying here, it is," Marko concluded.

Anne and Sachi knew damn well that Marko never lied when she was in the mood for torture.

"I was really with Luffyko the whole time till just now! Seriously, she is one hundred times worse than me and if I weren't there, she'd be eating every single grass on the island! Do you think that I would leave her alone for even a second? Or rather, do you really think she would leave me alone? If I were to try to go to your room, Luffyko would just make noises on the way there. She couldn't be quiet even when there was nothing to talk about. I swear on Luffyko's dreams that I didn't pull the prank on you this time!" Anne exclaimed.

"Hey, don't use my dreams!" Luffyko objected from beneath the deck. "And that's so cool! Can I try that too?" she asked in amazement.

"Later, yoi," Marko promised before staring at Sachi this time.

Sachi gave a squeak and she could've sworn that her pants were getting wetter. "I-I really didn't do it! Seriously! Honestly! Come on, pal, you know that I wouldn't do this to you, right? I may have pulled many pranks on you but none of them is as good as this one. I mean, I'm pretty proud this time-Shit."

"_Sachi_," Marko spoke with such malice that you wouldn't believe that she was calm collected ninety-nine percent of the time.

"I'm sorry, Marko! I'm seriously sorry! You have to admit that it was kind of funny though-No wait, I mean, I'm really sorry this time! I swear that I won't do it ever again... maybe-Ah shit! You got it all wrong. Please keep those talons away from my face-Wait, not my hair! My gorgeous beautiful hair! Heeeeeelp!"

Zoroko raised an eyebrow. "That looked like a bird making its nest."

"You have no sense of sympathy at all," Sachi shouted before she resumed her screaming.

Anne merely sighed in relief, glad that she didn't participate in the prank this time.

* * *

By the time Marko was done with her work, she untied Anne and allowed her back onto the ground. For some reason, Anne didn't throw insults at her for tying her up there in the first place. Was she really that mad? Marko didn't remember much about how angry she was at that time but she was amused by Sachi's new look. She's still up there by the way. Boy, that was some workout.

"Hey," someone called out from behind her.

Marko regarded the person to find that it was the cook.

Sanjiko looked at her awkwardly with a hint of nervousness, not the least intimidated by the other woman but rather, was trying to find words to speak her mind. In her hand, there was a plate of dessert that was supposed to be given to her.

"I heard what happened from Robizou-kun and I'm just going to apologize for this morning," she grumbled. Sanjiko wasn't the kind to stir something up by mistake and not apologizing for it, especially when that person happened to be someone close to someone dear to her captain. "So here. Just take it."

And Marko found the plate shoved in her hands.

"It was Sachi's fault to begin with so I'm not blaming anyone else. But I'll still take it. Thanks, yoi."

At least she apologized, unlike the two hyperactive pranksters who ended the deal with their laughter. From the day they started pranking her, they had never even uttered something close to a 'sorry'. If you don't count a playful 'my bad' into it. While Marko was taking a bite from the dessert that was prepared, Sanjiko casually leaned against the railings and took out a cigarette to light it up before putting it in her mouth.

"So how is it?"

"Pretty good."

"Glad to her that. It's my first attempt on that recipe after all."

Marko raised an eyebrow at that. "Isn't it pretty insincere if you're going to use something to apologize that might cause heavy diarrhea?"

"Heh. I wouldn't worry," Sanjiko removed the cigarette from her mouth and blew out a puff of smoke. "Despite how I look, I have to say that I'm a pretty damn good cook. Nothing I make is going to end up someone having diarrhea."

_"__Despite my size, I have to say that I'm a pretty decent cook."_

Marko blinked when the voice of the child echoed in her head before shaking her head. That's impossible.

"You sound confident, yoi," Marko mused instead.

"I care too much about food to pull that kind of stunt. If I'm going to go for revenge, messing with food would be the last thing on my mind," Sanjiko replied. "And I'm not a trickster unless I'm dealing with an enemy or someone as dumb as our captain. You're an ally, aren't you?"

"I suppose so. Pops didn't seem keen on fighting Anne's little sister right now."

"Then that's that. I'm sure that despite our captain's display of (brave) idiocy yesterday, she wouldn't suddenly attack a person without warning. She'd be upfront about it and declare that she is going to attack."

Marko chuckled at that. "A difference between Anne and her, yoi."

"At least, she wouldn't do it on purpose," Sanjiko grumbled and snapped her cigarette into half with her fingers, still sore about the times Luffyko recycled her ways on getting everyone onboard the ship. If not, she'd accidentally injure them along with the enemies. Of course, Sanjiko and Zoroko had a lot of pain tolerance to be able to withstand it.

"Why do you still have her as a captain? I mean, I heard she's a pack full of trouble but I haven't seen anything for myself yet. On the other hand, since she's also Anne's little sister, I'm not going to doubt anything, yoi."

"She's just that kind of person you wouldn't feel comfortable in leaving her alone."

Marko took a glance at Luffyko who was standing and jumping around on Thousand Sunny's figurehead. Completely understandable. It was probably the same reason why Whitebeard offered Anne to join their crew. It was either to prevent her from destroying the world (she did kind of set a few buildings on fire here and there) or to have someone taking care of her so that she doesn't lose a head during her trip. It could very well be both reasons.

They shared a few more moments of silence before Anne was bouncing in her steps towards them with a smile on her face. Marko felt suspicious. Anne was never good news when she had a smile on her face and definitely not a decent one if she was heading in her way.

"I begged pops to let us keep traveling for awhile and he agreed. I'm going to spend more time with Luffyko," she cheered and skipped away merrily.

Maybe the Strawhat captain really could make a startling change as Marko heard.

* * *

Here's the end of the chapter. Come to think of it, I really do make my fics long winded. If you guys just want me to skip those socializing shit, just give me a good cyber slap and say, "Just get to the point, beetch." It kind of works better, I guess. :P

Review, yeah?


	6. A Smooth Ride

I've finally updated this fic too and it looks like the plot is going to start becoming bumpy around here. Hold onto your seats guys but no worries, I'll be there to catch you when you fall off-/slapped.

**Bluebird24: I'm tempted to make that as Sanjiko's catchphrase xD**

**Pokabu: Hahaha! I guess that kind of made sense too. I feel that interaction is important too but I am now more focused on preventing myself from writing 20 chapters while the plot hadn't even been touched. :x I can do that and that's what worries me. xD **

**Yeah, it'd be pretty tough for Marko to remember this event since it also takes place the same day as she escaped from her hell.**

**alniyat: I can imagine. D: A child's obliviousness isn't something to take advantage of. It's a sad thing to have these going around here too and hopefully, it'll lessen as time passes by.**

**If Marco is going to be taken care of by Sanji, there isn't a reason why Sanjiko wouldn't do the same for Marko. xD I'm happy that you loved the chapters so far and I hope that you'd still like the rest that will be coming soon. :D **

**I just have a knack for making up weird pairings. xD It's pretty tough to get Whitebeard a lover (I tried every single possible people in my mind, seriously e.e)**

**redlaama: I love female!Marco too! :P And probably not too soon, I guess. D:**

**azab: I'm glad that you liked it and here's the update! :D**

* * *

After Anne skipped away to tell Luffyko about the good news, Marko and Sanjiko resumed their conversation.

They found quite a bit of things that they had in common. The first clue was obvious when the both of them started to talk about Luffyko and Anne as though they were the most dangerous babies on earth. After that, they moved on to their own crewmates. While Marko and Sachi didn't have that sort of rivalry like Zoroko and Sanjiko does, she still get pissed off at Sachi when she pulled pranks on her. Anne does it too but didn't do it as often as Sachi and would rather pig out unless Sachi offered her ideas for a good prank.

But out of everyone here, Marko was definitely the sanest. She also found out that Sanjiko had a weird infatuation with handsome or cute guys while being more abrasive towards women. However, Sanjiko wouldn't do anything out of the ordinary as long as the female didn't piss her off. The reason why people thought that she hated all women in the world was because, let's face it, her female crewmates were insane and was spreading the insanity all over the world.

"Why did you decide to come out to the sea?" Marko questioned after hearing that she used to work as a chef.

"I wanted to find the All Blue," Sanjiko replied and Marko noticed that her eyes brightened up. "It's a place whereby the North, South, East and West sea meets. Similarly, all fishes from the respective seas will be in the All Blue. It's considered as a cook's paradise because of having such a huge resource for their work. My old friends used to say that it was only a legend but I believe that it exists."

"I'm sure it does, yoi."

"You think so?"

"Why not? I don't think that it's impossible," Marko said simply. "It's nice to hold onto your dreams until you find it in this world."

"Thanks for the encouragement," Sanjiko replied sincerely with a grin.

Sanjiko thought that maybe the other blonde wasn't so bad after all. They may have hit a bad start during this morning but they were able to talk as though nothing happened. Marko seemed to be a mature and reasonable woman, unlike most of the female population here. There was always a reason why she was chosen as the First Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates. Sanjiko may not know much about how things worked in the Moby Dick but she assumed that it should be Marko who kept things in check when Whitebeard wasn't able too.

This woman was different from the other women Sanjiko encountered. She couldn't find herself getting annoyed or irritated at her (if you don't include this morning when everything was caused by a misunderstanding and Sachi's scheme). Funnily enough, Sanjiko could picture her as a saint who went through trials of endurance to be as calm-headed as a Buddha and the thought made her giggle.

"What are you laughing at, yoi?" Marko asked curiously.

"I was just thinking how much you've went through to be able to stay this... calm," Sanjiko answered.

Marko raised an eyebrow and glanced over to Sachi who was still begging someone who could help her down. "A lot. A lot more than you can ever imagine, yoi. There is a person in my life who would never give me a break while shouting to the world that we're best friends."

"Come on, Marko! We are the bestest of friends ever!" Sachi begged.

Except, the reason why Sachi was saying so now was different and naturally, Marko ignored her.

"It must be hard on you," Sanjiko said sympathetically.

"You get used to it when someone doesn't get bored of making your life a laughing stock."

The corner of Sanjiko's mouth twitched upwards and she gave her an amused look. "How long have you been enduring this?"

"Long enough, yoi. I've been here ever since forty years ago and Sachi even longer."

"Forty years-Wait, how old are you anyway? You don't look anywhere near forty," Sanjiko pointed out.

Sure, Marko looked mature but she wasn't anywhere near an old lady either. Her skin looked as smooth as a teenager's and there weren't any signs of wrinkles on her face. Her body figure was another plus with the curves drawn out so nicely. You wouldn't think of her as an old woman either with the way she was dressed. It wasn't anything modest and it does have some fashion standards. The only thing that would remotely make her look old was the bored or tired look she always wore on her face. How was she able to keep her eyes this way in the first place?

"I live much longer than normal humans because of my devil's fruit abilities and my body doesn't age as quick too," Marko explained. "I don't remember how old I am so forty is the best I can give, yoi."

To be honest, Sanjiko wasn't that surprised anymore when she heard her reason. If Brooko was able to come back to life because of her devil fruit's abilities, what other types of fruit abilities that gives such advantages couldn't exist?

"I guess it would be nice to be able to stay young longer," Sanjiko mused.

Marko shrugged. She was never the one who cared of whether she would grow old or not. "It depends."

Sanjiko chuckled in response and the conversation came to a halt at that moment. It was great to be able to speak with a woman with a different mindset from the ones Sanjiko met. Zoroko and her were practically rivals and was out to insult each other when the chance arises. Usoko always liked to hide behind her during battles. Brooko and Frankie were perverts while Luffyko...

"Sanjiko! I'm hungry already! I want food!"

-is there even a need to explain why?

Cherry was decent but Sanjiko wasn't sure if she could categorize the reindeer as a woman. She was more of a little girl and Sanjiko had more patience with them rather than when they were grown up. She was innocent and helpful around the ship as a doctor too. Sometimes, she may get intimidated like Usoko does (and somewhat traumatized by Luffyko's antics) but Sanjiko always thought that it was because she was still young. However, she had her moments of bravery and kindness. It was really difficult to get mad at the small reindeer.

"Sanjiko!"

"I heard you for the first time," Sanjiko snapped and sighed. "I'm going back to the kitchen. If you'd like, you can join us. Anne is going to be there anyway so I have a feeling she will pull you along either way."

"I will take your invitation in mind," Marko replied with a nod.

After Sanjiko disappeared into the kitchen, Marko was left on her own again. She was fine with it either way. Talking to Sanjiko was like breathing a new fresh of air. It had been some time since she was able to talk to someone without having a bird joke cracked on her head. She visits Whitebeard often but she would be too concerned about his health and drinking habits to be talking much anyway. However, out of the whole crew, Marko would like to think that it was Whitebeard and Sachi who knew best about her as they were with her ever since she came here.

"Marko, I'm going to wet my pants. Seriously," Sachi sobbed.

"Make sure you mop it up tomorrow morning," Marko replied uncaringly.

"You're horrible! How could you leave your best friend to wet the deck with her piss?" Sachi accused.

"You were the one who asked for it when you pulled that prank of yours last night," Marko retorted.

Sachi made an indignant noise and started mumbling about evil birds. "I thought that it'd be fun to see your reaction." At least, Sachi didn't think that it was fun _now._ "You guys did kiss yesterday night and it'd be pretty amusing to find each other on a bed, no?"

"It wasn't a kiss, yoi," Marko protested calmly. "And it's very entertaining to see you up there."

"Lighten up, Marko. Besides, aren't you guys friends now? You didn't want to mix around with our allies so I thought that I would bring a friend to you instead. You should be untying me and thanking me this instance!"

"Your set-up was horrible. And I'm never the one to mix around, yoi."

"Pops was pretty worried about you too, y'know? You are always keeping to yourself and stuffs," Sachi commented as she swung in her place on the rope. "At least if something were to happen to good ol' me, I would be assured that there will be someone else who would keep up the pranks in my stead. Although I doubt the Strawhat Pirates's cook would be capable of pranks but at least the both of you make good kissing partners."

In response, a shoe was thrown into Sachi's mouth.

Marko decided to ignore Sachi at this point. How ridiculous. Marko didn't feel like saying anything to her previous statement. It was difficult to imagine Sachi not being around on the ship and trying to make her day the worst ever. While Sachi did love teasing her, there were also times whereby her presence was comforting and to be saying things like not being able to be around anymore was just nonsense. Marko didn't even want to fathom what would happen to her if one of the most important people in her life were to disappear. Whitebeard obviously didn't show signs of living much longer and Marko wouldn't be able to bear losing the both of them at the same time.

At times, she wished that she didn't have the ability to outlive her friends.

* * *

Dinner was finally served and out of pity, Marko finally released Sachi but not before giving her a warning that if she snuck anyone else in her bed, it'd be two weeks with no toilet breaks. Sachi merely beamed at her happily and went along with the promise while having her fingers crossed behind her back. As long as Marko didn't notice it, Sachi would be free to do whatever she wanted. All she had to do now was to come up with another prank idea that would make Marko remember it for the rest of her life. No one messes with her hair and gets away with it scot free.

"This is really good!" Sachi commented as she sat at the dining table in the Thousand Sunny.

"Weren't you supposed to be hanging up there?" Sanjiko asked.

"Marko was being a best friend and finally let me down from there before we came over here. I knew that she wouldn't leave me alone for long since our little birdie loves me so much," Sachi teased and eyeing Marko with a playful look.

"You're just a monosyllable away from going back there," Marko warned.

"Threat recognized," Sachi said and shut up afterwards.

"Luffyko! Eat some meat for god's sake," Anne groaned and tried to feed her little sister some food which actually had substance.

Luffyko stuck out her tongue at her childishly. "No way! I'm going to eat salad and become the Pirate King. I don't like to eat meat because they taste really weird. Besides, salads are originally way nicer than meat," she defended.

"That's a stupid reason and meat doesn't taste weird. You're the one who is weird," Anne retorted.

"I'm still eating my salad!"

"You stubborn little sister!"

"Don't waste any food or else you'll be washing up all of the dishes," Sanjiko warned and eyed Luffyko in particular. She always tend to sneak meat onto other plates when she thought that Sanjiko wasn't looking. "Ah Namizou-sama, I'll get you more tea!"

And Luffyko snuck the meatball onto Cherry's plate.

"I saw that!" Sanjiko snapped.

"Aw, damn it," Luffyko muttered and pouted, making Anne laugh at her failed attempt.

The night went on until the table was cleared. Luffyko was a huge eater as long as she didn't have to eat meat. Surprisingly, she was okay with seafood or rice and those were most of what you could get when they were out in the sea. Anne, on the other hand, could devour everything (including meat) twice as much as Luffyko but because she was a responsible sister, she had to hold herself back so everyone else could eat. Marko ate silently throughout the dinner unless Sachi provoked her or someone asked her a question. It seemed that Cherry had grown on her because of their devil fruit abilities.

When everyone cleared out of the room, Sanjiko started washing all of the dishes. She knew that it would be hopeless to ask Luffyko to do so after she broke several plates. It was nighttime too and Sanjiko didn't have that kind of energy to go ballistic on her.

"I'll help, yoi," Marko offered behind her. Weird, Sanjiko thought that everyone had already left.

Instead, Sanjiko turned to her and smiled politely at her offer. "Nah, it's alright. You're a guest so you can just relax instead. I'm used to cleaning so much more and I couldn't let my guest washing dishes for us," she replied.

"It's the least I could do after you cooked such a delicious meal," Marko insisted and stood beside her.

"It's good enough to hear that you liked it."

Marko wouldn't have any of that either and took a dirty plate from the sink instead. "It's getting pretty late anyway, yoi. If it makes you feel better, I like working around rather than sitting still. Sachi also banned me from working more than I already did so help me out here."

"Do I even want to know how bad of a workaholic you are?"

"I'd prefer you not to, yoi," Marko replied with a dry smile.

"If only some of the idiots here could be as half as hardworking," Sanjiko remarked hopefully.

But she knew that the day she sees Luffyko cleaning up the ship properly is the day Frankie is going to lose her job. Or, the day Usoko doesn't use the broom as a riding horse would be the day Luffyko stops breaking plates whenever she had to wash. You'd have to wonder who was the one who did most of the chores around. Zoroko slept or trained most of the time while Cherry was too short to be able to do much. Frankie was usually busy tinkering around the ship while Brooko would be playing her violin. Sanjiko wouldn't let Namizou or Robizou do any chores so there was only one who had to be responsible for the cleanliness of the ship. You were right. It would be herself, Sanjiko.

"Thank you for your help," Sanjiko said sincerely after all the plates were done.

"No problem, yoi," Marko replied with a wave of her hand in assurance. "Is there anything else that needed to be done?"

"All I have to do is to clean the table but it's an easy job enough for me to finish it within a minute. You don't have to do anything more," Sanjiko reassured with a laugh and made a shooing motion before Marko tried to do anymore work than Sanjiko would allow.

Marko gave her an amused grin. "You sound almost like Sachi now. Alright, I'll be taking my leave then. Good night, yoi."

"Good night," Sanjiko said before the door closed behind Marko.

It was another interesting day and Sanjiko felt that things were starting to look up. Hopefully, nothing would happen during their trip on the way to the next island. The cook wondered how long would they sail together before they have to go their separate ways again. Anne probably wanted to stay with Luffyko as long as she could so there was a chance that they would have to take a few more islands to part ways.

Meanwhile, a shadowy figure was eyeing the woman from the kitchen window.

* * *

Phew, I'm finally done with this chapter. Okay, here's my random pairing of the day.

MarcoxMarko

No, it doesn't have anything to do with this fic. /slapped twice

Review, yeah? xD


	7. Of More Pranks And Pain

More interactions between them again. I'll start off the beginning of the main plot in the next chapter~ And I just realized that I can work better when I'm listening to music. LOL!

**Pokabu: I love this part of the romance as well although it can get a little long winded at times. xD It just kind of... adds the value, I guess. At least, that's how I felt when I'm reading other people's novels while I feel as though I'm just procrastinating the plot as usual. OTL**

**Sachi probably would regret turning her sights on Sanjiko. D**

**Bluebird42: Ahahahaha! I'll see what I can do with it. D Yeah, I haven't got to AnneLuffyko much because I was focusing on MarkoSanjiko all this time. I'll start them off in the next chapter as well!**

**alniyat: I see. oAo I read stuffs from the internet at times. **

**Thank you! I never saw myself much of an impressive writer so I just focused on the grammatical errors the best I could. I have to admit that the chapters so far were impromptu and wasn't properly planned out. I do have the main plot mapped out in my head nicely already though and I have to say that it's rare even for someone like me. oAo**

**I am really tempted to but I don't think I want to be shot to death at this early stage of my life. LOL! WhitebeardxMakino seemed kind of okay to me but I'm going to suppress that urge for now. I have a feeling I've done quite a lot of crack shipping till now. Way too much. :P**

**azab: Thank you! And you definitely won't find that out in this chapter.**

* * *

_She couldn't breathe. She couldn't move._

_Marko felt her life draining out of her when her body was zapped mercilessly. Just when she was about to close her eyes and be released from her suffering from good, she was suddenly brought to life when she was grabbed out of the water. A taunting laughter filled the room at her pathetic state as Marko did nothing to struggle her way out of her situation this time. She knew that it would be useless even if she tried because they had already broke her so many times. _

_"So I heard that devil fruit abilities users are weak to water. I guess this doesn't limit to seawater only," her master taunted. "How does it feel, hmm?"_

_When she didn't reply, it only amused him more._

_"You're finally not talking back, I see. It was troublesome but I'm pleased to know that you finally learned your place," he sneered down at her with a gleeful smirk. "If my pet wasn't good for anything, I'd have to make sure that she doesn't turn her claws on her master, shouldn't I?"_

_This time when she didn't reply, it irritated him._

_"Reply when I'm asking you a question," he shouted and shoved her head back into the water again. He pulled her out ten seconds after and held the taser near her skin. "And make sure that it's the answer that I want to hear."_

_"Y-yes..."_

_"That's good," her master replied with a satisfied smile._

_It wasn't good at all. Marko couldn't find herself fighting back verbally. The tortures she received was draining her will out of her and this wasn't the worst of it. It was only the beginning and she already gave up. Even if she were to behave as she was told, her master was just going to continue on with what he had planned for her. He wasn't going to stop his own entertainment just because his pet finally obeyed him. He was not above that. He was heartless, merciless and cruel._

_And in front of his very eyes, Marko gave him the satisfaction of turning her into a lifeless doll._

_"Master, your guest has arrived," the maid informed from outside the bathroom._

_"Alright, I'll tend to him shortly. Call up the guards to get her back to her cage," her master ordered and walked out of the bathroom. _

_The guards came shortly afterwards and took her back to her pathetic living quarters. She was thrown roughly back into the steel confinement and was locked within it. Her body was sore. A slight movement could cause her whole body to twitch violently in pain. At least now, the torture was over and she could have the better time of the day for just a few more hours until her master was finished with his business. If only she hadn't been persistent in defying him at the start, he would've tossed her aside just like how he did with the other broken slaves. She was becoming like them and it was obvious that it was inevitable even from the beginning. _

_Marko's nightmare was interrupted when someone embraced her from behind._

_"I'll save you."_

"Fuck!" Sanjiko exclaimed and a whole string of curses followed.

When Marko entered the Thousand Sunny's kitchen on Luffyko's behalf, she didn't expect to find Sanjiko pressing her back against Marko and holding a rolled up newspaper. Her eyes were like glaring daggers and investigating around every inch of her surroundings. If Marko hadn't held Sanjiko by the shoulder, she would've backed up even further and depending on her luck, it might or might not end up in a very awkward position. And it seemed that Sanjiko only realized Marko's presence when she felt the hands on her shoulders. At this point, Marko felt inclined to ask what was she doing.

"I just saw a cockroach running around here. It's the first time we had it and I'm not letting that shitty insect stay and breed its little fuckers," Sanjiko cursed and didn't look very comfortable at what she just said herself. If possible, she looked more stressed than when Marko found her.

"A cockroach, yoi?" Marko repeated and raised an eyebrow. When you're working in a kitchen, you'd have to expect an insect or two trying to make a grab for their meals. Apparently, Sanjiko didn't accept that fact. "It's nothing big. We have that in our kitchens too."

Sanjiko turned around and looked as though Marko was secretly working with the cockroach occult... whatever that is. "Not in my kitchen! I spent my time cleaning up the place and makes sure that no insects get in! I'm not going to let a shitty cockroach shit on our food."

"It's not that bad, yoi" Marko tried to convince.

"You're talking crazy!"

Marko sighed and shook her head, realizing that she wasn't going to change Sanjiko's mind. "In that case, why don't you look for it. I don't think you can catch every single angle of the room from where you're standing," she suggested.

"I'm not going to risk myself being touched by those dirty shits!"

"... Do you want to find it or not, yoi?"

"Of course, I do!" Sanjiko protested before an idea clicked in her mind. She quickly pushed Marko forward and hid behind her. "How about this? Try to spot the cockroach and let me know once that fucker comes out. I'll whack it till it's goes to hell with my newspaper."

"Don't you think this is a little too... much effort for an insect?" Marko asked warily. "If you don't want it poisoning food then why don't you spray a can of insect spray around the room? The cockroach will be dead in a few, yoi."

"And have its corpse lying in the kitchen whereby I could never find it? I don't think so."

Marko looked at her with an eyebrow raised like she was calculating her intelligence level before giving up and decided to get this over with. With every step she took, Sanjiko only followed closer behind. It was obvious that Sanjiko didn't just hate insects because they could taint her food. She was scared of them as well but thought that it would be a pansy move to show her fear. Marko wouldn't blame her though since she would've been skeptical if her enemy were to scream like a girl at the sight of an insect. Compared to the girls she came across in towns, Sanjiko seemed better in keeping her reputation up.

She bet that no one in the crews know of this.

In order to tell when Sanjiko was fearful, you'd have to be close enough to feel her fingernails digging into the flesh of your arm. It was pretty much like what Marko was feeling right now but chose not to rat her out on it because she'd just start the whole thing over again. Marko, herself, didn't mind them much. She had to live with them back then and they were much better company than the bastards she had to deal with.

"There it is!" Sanjiko shouted and pulled Marko roughly in the direction of where she saw the little critter.

"Aren't you going to attack it, yoi?" Marko asked.

Sanjiko blinked in realization. "Oh right, I-Kyaaaa!" she screamed when the cockroach started to scurry around the floor.

...

When Marko stared at her, Sanjiko's hands flew to her mouth in shock and embarrassment. Had she just let out that sound? Just a few seconds ago, she sounded like a brave warrior who was about to spear her opponent like a shish kabob. The blonde cook quickly shook her head as a blush started spreading around her cheeks.

"Th-that wasn't it! I-I was just... surprised! It just moved all of a sudden! It wasn't like I was scared of that thing or anything, I was just taken aback! It happens to everyone else too," Sanjiko tried to explain but came to terms that it wouldn't work on Marko. "... Kill it," she ordered immediately and handed Marko the newspaper.

She sure recovered fast.

Marko sighed and took the newspaper, acting as though she was already used to have all the jobs thrown onto her shoulders. Oh wait, they do. Walking over to the cockroach that was settling comfortably on the table, she gave it a good whack before it could escape and it was flattened like a failed pancake. Anne would probably dub herself as a hero for this achievement but Marko wasn't that ridiculous.

"Could you throw it away?" Sanjiko asked and looked like she was about to throw up.

"It's just an insect, yoi," Marko repeated and tossed the little bugger out of the window.

"I don't like them. They taint my food." Sanjiko was probably going to keep the image up despite the fact that Marko heard her scream like a little girl just now. "I'm going start cleaning the place up again and be more alert this time. I don't want to see any other insects flying into the kitchen."

"You could close the windows and door when you aren't using the room."

"I did! And that's why I don't understand how that thing could come in. I had especially gotten Franko to design a device to keep insects out at the entrance too so it's impossible for them to waltz in unless someone brings them in," Sanjiko ranted.

Come to think of it, didn't Sachi take an awfully long time in the kitchen this morning? Marko could've sworn that she was searching around for something and refused to tell her what it is when she asked. It couldn't be an ingredient because everything was prepared. The only thing that tipped her off was that smirk on her face. At that time, Marko thought that she was plotting to make her day hell again so she avoided her until now. Apparently Sachi wasn't trying to do so because no matter how much Marko avoided her, Sachi would get what she wanted. She knew where Marko's favourite spots are, after all.

If something goes hilariously wrong on the ship, you'd be a fool if you don't guessed Sachi or Anne first.

"So what are you doing here?" Sanjiko asked, snapping Marko out of her thoughts.

"Luffyko asked me if to check if lunch was ready. She would've came here herself but she didn't want to stop playing with Anne," Marko explained.

"Oh right! I was looking for the cockroach the whole time so I haven't started preparing it yet," Sanjiko said. "It won't take long though since I'll just make something real quick. I can't let her have too much before dinner."

"You go do that, yoi."

"Do you want to have something too? I have to repay you since you also helped me out this time."

"It's alright. It's partly my crew's fault that you had it in your kitchen in your first place." When Sanjiko gave her a confused look, Marko elaborated. "I think I found out who snuck that insect into your kitchen."

Marko didn't care if there was a possibility of her being wrong. If anything is amiss, you point fingers at Sachi. That's how she works, at least. Even though it might not be her (Marko had a strong feeling that it was and her hunches were hardly wrong), Marko felt the need for Sanjiko herself to at least get back for that prank Sachi put her up. The reason why Sanjiko let it go easily was because she thought that she should after Marko helped her out in the kitchen that day. Despite Marko's apparent anger at her best friend, Sanjiko felt that it was best for her not to take things too far.

And apparently, Sanjiko felt wrong.

"I heard that you uses three swords," Sachi said while Zoroko and her were in the training room.

"Yeah. You are a swordsman too, aren't you?" Zoroko asked while eyeing the two swords hoisted at each of Sachi's side.

"I am and I'm proud of it. My swords are like valuable replacements for what I don't have. Do you know?" Sachi asked and Zoroko gave her a confused look. "A sword can mean many things. Personally, I uses two swords in both hands to practice my... skills. However, I have you commend you too."

"Hah...?"

"Not only did you hold them in both hands, you also have one in your mouth too..."

Sachi's smirk faded away when she felt a dangerous presence behind her. Instinctively, she went for her swords but didn't make it halfway when she was beaten into a bloody pulp by the angered blood cook of the ship. And just when she was about to get to the good part of the conversation too!

Zoroko only looked at Sachi's limp form with an eyebrow raised when Sanjiko stormed out of the room.

"You're a sad person, aren't you?"

* * *

Right, so the main plot starts the next chapter but don't worry, there will still be interactions going on.

Review, yeah?


	8. And Overprotective Sister slash Lover

A little late in producing this out again. Procrastination has gotten the better of me again. 8'D I was listening to Digimon season 1, 2, 3, 4 endings and openings while I wrote this. Memories!

On the other hand, for fellow MarcoxSanji lovers, I made a new fic Fiery Birds (MarcoxFem!Sanji) though and it's just random oneshots about the pairing. It goes from humor to angst so I'm making a variety here. I originally decided on a multi-chapter for them but then I reconsidered it before I shot myself in the knee. 8'D

**Blurdbied42: To her defense, Sachi was the one who brought the cockroach in. D But then Sachi's demise is kind of amusing too. LOL! And yeah, more AnneLuffyko here!**

**daughterofthesea98: Thank you! :D**

**alniyat: :P Sachi wouldn't be able to spy without getting caught. But you'll know who is it by the end of this chapter. It's hinted in the series that Sanji is disgusted by bugs. Not scared but disgusted. So I guess for Sanjiko, it'd make sense for it to be taken up a teeny bit. XP **

**Hmmm, I did mention about Sachi being paired up with Zoroko but that idea would be put on hold. This fic is centering around Marko and Sanjiko after all. I'll see what I can do. :P**

**True. I never did try to pair Shanks up with anyone though. I think he's awesome on his own-except maybe Mihawk coughcoughcough**

**azab: I'm glad that you did! :D**

**Pokabu: It's probably going to happen more in this fic than a side story (if I decide to write one xP)**

* * *

"I missed you so much, Luffyko," Anne murmured as she pulled her 'younger sister' into an embrace.

"Me too," Luffyko replied in a much happier tone. "It's so much better talking to you here than on phone. The snail telephone keeps making all sorts of reeeeeaaaally weird faces whenever you talk and it was really hilarious!"

"I know, Luffyko. You were laughing most of the time during our conversation," Anne pointed out dryly. Was there anything Luffyko wouldn't be amused at? "Besides that, I'm surprised that you let your hair grow longer. I thought that you would keep it short."

"I couldn't help it," she defended. "I didn't have any scissors with me when I was training."

"You know you could've cut your hair after that, right?"

"Yeah but I was in a hurry to meet the others. Hancock did wanted to cut for me and said that he wanted to keep my hair too."

Anne's eyebrow twitched at her words. Hancock? The Snake Prince? Anne was still at loss of how Luffyko managed to gain his attention due to rumors of the Snake Prince hating women more than Sanjiko does. When Anne heard that Luffyko was training at Amazon Lily, she immediately made a call to the place and had to deal with him. If Anne hadn't pointed out that she was Luffyko's sister, Hancock would've just slammed the phone down in a millisecond after she called her a 'woman-hating bastard'. And Anne would rather him do that than prattling on how he was glad to meet his sister-in-law.

Sister-in-law her feet.

Anne wasn't going to hand Luffyko over to someone even though he happened to be the best looking man on the face of earth. She had to admit that Hancock is superior to other men based on looks and prowess but his face will forever be under Anne's foot. No freak is going for Luffyko as long as she is around.

"-And then that's how I realized that if I cut my hair, I have to eat them-hey! Are you listening?"

"Uh... yes? That's great, Lu," Anne praised despite having no idea what the hell Luffyko was talking about. "Tell me, how does this Hancock person treats you? Had he done anything to you before?"

"Hmmm... the first time we met was when he was showering. After that, I fought his sisters and he invited me to his room. It was kind of weird. He got me up onto his bed while he was naked so we could tal-" Luffyko was cut off when Anne grabbed the sides of her head.

"What the hell?!" Anne exclaimed. "He's trying to deflower you!"

"Deflower? What is that? Is that food?"

"Stay away from that man, Luffyko!" Anne demanded. "He's obviously trying to do you!"

"Do me? Is that fo-"

"I'll call him up and demand for him to leave you alone. What a bastard. The nerve of him! And to think that he wasn't this crazy when he called me his sister-in-law! What does he think he was going to get? You as a bride? I'll set his snake aflame and go for his spineless balls next!"

"But balls doesn't have a spine..."

"Then I'll toss-Wait, how did YOU know that?"

"Shanks said about it before when one of his crew said the same thing."

Anne wanted to facepalm at that moment. Luffyko was going to be the death of her. When she wasn't pissing or worrying the hell out of her, she would make Anne panic till she gets a stroke. Contrary to many's belief, Anne wasn't the biggest troublemaker on the face of Grandline. Even she have someone to worry about. If only half of Whitebeard's allies met Luffyko, they would finally understand the meaning of 'danger magnet'. This girl was so oblivious and thick that Anne couldn't burn a hole through her. Not that she would ever want to since Luffyko is still her precious little sister...

"And I'm not going to marry him. We made a promise that we're going to marry when we were kids remember?"

...and lover, apparently.

But they didn't get to highlight that over their phonecalls because of some idiot laughing whenever Anne opened her mouth.

"I'm just worried that he would force you to marry him," Anne grumbled.

"Hancock isn't going to do that. He's kind of weird but he's a very nice person! He's my friend too," Luffyko reassured.

Anne continued to let out grumbles of curses as she buried her nose into Luffyko's hair while holding her close protectively. "I'm not going to trust him," she said as though it was the end of the conversation. "He's not going to get you and that's that."

Luffyko giggled at Anne's behavior. "You're being weird. He's not going to do anything to me."

"I'm not going to dismiss that," Anne said firmly. She guided Luffyko's chin with her finger towards her and kissed her on the lips. "You're mine, after all."

Luffyko returned the kiss and smiled at her reassuringly. "Yes, I know that."

"!"

Anne and Luffyko immediately turned their heads towards Zoro's training room when the scream reached their ears.

"It sounds like Sachi," Anne commented.

"The one with the weird hair? I think something happened."

"You have to be specific if you're going to call her that from now on. But don't worry about her, it's probably nothing different from the usual," Anne reassured and patted the back of Luffyko's head. Having Luffyko around is taking her mind off pranking Marko. It was all good anyway since she needed a break from being tossed into the ocean. "

"Your friends are really funny! They have strange hair," Luffyko remarked.

"Keep going and I won't do you anymore favors, yoi," Marko said as she walked towards the two.

Anne looked at her in confusion. "Marko? Aren't you dealing with Sachi? How did you get here so fast?" Anne paused to listen to the continuation of Sachi's scream. "No, I think I should've asked, how are you here? When you should be up there?"

"Sachi wasn't pranking me this time, yoi. Your cook is dealing with her."

"Ah..." Anne said in complete understanding.

"Thanks a lot for helping me, banana-head!" Luffyko chirped up.

A vein popped on Marko's forehead and was holding herself back from hitting Anne's little sister despite her calm appearance. "I'm going back to the ship. Don't cause any trouble, yoi," she warned. Her arms transformed into wings of blue flames and she flew over to the deck of the Moby Dick.

"So cool!" Luffyko exclaimed in awe.

"Marko ate a mythical zoan devil fruit which lets her transform into a phoenix. She only transforms her arms and feet most of the time, though," Anne said. "Even though she may look weird and all but she's a nice person. Marko is our mama~"

"I heard that, yoi!" Then, it was followed by a stone colliding against Anne's head.

"She can throw from up there too!" Luffyko added on excitedly while ignoring the fact that Anne had collapsed on her.

* * *

Marko had taken up on working on the crew's wanted posters in her room after the ordeal was over. Because they have a large crew, the Commanders had to keep all of them in check and naturally, Marko would be the one to finish off where everyone else left off. It had been awhile since they have done some recruiting and Whitebeard was considering opening a seventeenth division with a commander chosen to lead.

Sachi protested against the idea since a new crew means they would have to work to death. But obviously, it fell on death ears.

If they were to open a new division, the new commander would most likely be...

"Commander Marko."

"Tea," Marko regarded the middle-aged woman. "Is there anything you need, yoi?"

"You're working again? Commander Sachi was looking for you."

Marko sighed. Sachi was always persistent in keeping her away from paperwork. If it wasn't intentional, then it must mean that she had somehow gotten into trouble again. She never looked for Anne, only her-Well, Marko would understand why Anne would be a poor choice to look for. The last time Sachi asked her to help out with groceries at a town, somewhere in there was set on fire when Anne made another dine and dash when Sachi wasn't looking. In the end, it was Marko who had to deal with the angry chefs and agreed to compensate them for their losses. The town was under Whitebeard's protection, after all.

Ever since Whitebeard's health got worse, Marko was the one in-charge of most of the things around. She wondered what would happen if Whitebeard were to make Sachi or Anne the First Commander instead. In her opinion, Jozu would make a much better choice.

And Marko would've been persistent in believing so if Jozu hadn't joined in the others in calling her their 'mama'. Sometimes, she thought that she should just leave those idiots to their reckless tendencies. Maybe then they would learn that trying to drown the whole ship was not acceptable.

"Tell her that I'm only available if something urgently important is on. And by that I meant the Marines bringing over fifty fleets to deal with us and not Anne needing diaper changing."

"Zehahahahaha! You always have great humor, Commander Marko."

"What humor, yoi? I'm serious."

"Yes, yes, just as usual. Everyone was wondering why you never joined us for fun. Recently after the Strawhat Pirates arrived, they've been making bets on when you're going to get a soulmate when Sachi mentioned it in the dining hall."

Remind Marko to have a very slow talk with Sachi.

"I'm not interested in anyone and I'm not planning to, yoi."

"Really?"

"Yes, really. Romance was never my forte."

"You could always give it a try, Commander Marko."

Marko looked at her questioningly at her insistence. Tea must be at the very wrong side of the bet, she was sure. When those idiots weren't working properly, they would be out making bets on when someone will find another one. Marko couldn't find the point in it. There wasn't anyone else they could look for other than each other unless they plan to mate with a Sea King. It was as though every single chip was trying to find a completely different chip in the same packet of fucking chips. On the other hand, Marko wasn't feeling comfortable at Tea's staring. It was getting creepy and it wasn't just her eyes.

"I'll pass, yoi. You have work to do too, right? Get to it. Chit-chatting with me isn't going to get you out of it."

"As sharp as always," Tea said with a grin before walking out of the door. While she was walking out, Sanjiko passed by her as she was walking into Marko's room. "Good day to you, Strawhat's cook."

"Ah, same here," Sanjiko replied a little awkwardly when she saw the strange look Tea was giving her. What was that about? Deciding to put it aside at the moment, she turned her attention back to the matter at hand. "Dinner is ready. It look quite awhile and it's already evening before I knew it."

"Thanks, yoi. You guys have dinner first."

"But Sachi told me to pull you there now no matter what."

Marko didn't hold back in connecting her palm to her forehead. What was with Sachi? It has been awhile since Marko worked. Would it kill for her to work for another few more hours? Judging by the time, it had been only four hours ever since she started. And why won't she get Marko herself? Marko wasn't going to toss her into the sea for pranking her out of work... at least, Marko wouldn't recycle that old punishment again.

"And I'm not letting any of my guests miss their meal," Sanjiko added afterwards.

"Fine, I'll go. Nothing happened while I was gone, right?"

"Not that I know of," Sanjiko replied.

"Good."

Crossing her arms over her chest, Marko walked along the hallway with Sanjiko beside her. All this while, a familiar pair of eyes were watching their back with an indescribable gaze. A small trademark laughter was let out when the both of them were out of sight and the figure disappeared.

* * *

The main plot is starting now. Time to get my butt off tumblr~


	9. Tiring Day With the Strawhat Pirates

Sorry for the late update. I'm afraid that this story will be put under sporadic updates for the time being. I'm pretty busy with a lot of things nowadays and updates for other stories might come a bit slow too!

**BlueBird42: I think the only character that I wouldn't genderbend in this story is Whitebeard. XP Or any other few minor characters in the series. LP**

**azab: Thank you and I'm glad that you did!**

**alniyat: Anne and Luffyko has become my very new favourite genderbent couple! xD I used to didn't think much of them since I didn't really like some Luffyko portrayed in some fics. :x And yeah, I try not to give spoilers to my readers since I don't want to ruin the fun. ; A ; The questions are alright! I understand when readers are curious but I'm just going to say that you will find out very soon! :D**

**I could try but I'm not sure if I can pull it off well. LOL! Fem!Shanks and Fem!Hawkeye, hmmm... D**

**Pokabu: Thank you! :D And I enjoy taking Luffyko's attention away from what she should be focusing on. XP**

* * *

"Marko, this is horrible! Horrible, I tell you," Anne wailed.

Once again, Marko found herself holding herself back from the urge to drown the freckled teen. Anne was currently having her face pressed against her chest (Marko never did find out why Anne loved to do that) while crying uncontrollably and enveloping her in a crushing grip with her arms pressed to her sides. Of course, she could easily break free from it but Anne would just follow up with more perverted hugs like this one.

From what she had gathered, Anne only became like that after attending to that shower Luffyko offered, along with the rest of the female Strawhat Pirates. When Marko unfortunately happened to walk by, she was immediately Anne's target.

"Both Sanjiko and Zoroko are younger than me yet their chest are h-huge! They aren't as big as you or Luffyko but how could they grow so quickly? When will I grow, damn it?!"

"First of all, Anne, get your face out of there," Marko instructed and a vein popped on her forehead when Anne didn't listen. "Everyone grows in different area, yoi! Stop being over-sensitive. Why do you care so much about your chest, of all places?"

"Someone who has inhumane boobies like you wouldn't understand!"

"Well, thank you, yoi. Now that you're feeling better, you can let go now," Marko said and struggled herself free.

Maybe she should bring Anne to the nurses if she had any hidden perverted disease. Almost every single morning, Anne would pop out of nowhere to grope either Marko or Luffyko.

Luffyko didn't mind, which was a bad thing because it only served to encourage Anne more. Although whenever her little sister was around, she would rush towards her instead of Marko. But when Luffyko was out of sight, Marko would automatically become her victim. She shudder to think what would happen of Luffyko had to leave with her crew.

It was bad enough to wake up to Sachi's face every morning.

"The bath was horrible. I couldn't relax at all." Anne continued to sniffle pathetically. "Zoroko was really something. Sanjiko was alright. A little above average but Zoroko's definitely wins. Of course, my little sister's are the biggest of them all! I bet that you wished you had a cute little sister like that," she proclaimed proudly.

"I'm glad that you're being observant." Just that it was about the wrong place.

"By the way, I heard that we're going to have a seventeenth division?"

"Heard? All of us discussed over it during the commanders' meeting," Marko pointed out before narrowing her eyes accusingly. "Were you asleep during the meeting again?"

"Um... no?"

"Anne."

"Oh, look! Luffyko is here! Hey, Luffyko! Yo-ho~! It's your lovable big sister, Anne!" Anne called out excitedly and bounced her way over to the oblivious Strawhat Captain.

_She definitely did, _Marko thought and shook her head.

Even though the crew was already big enough, Whitebeard didn't stop recruiting new members. The purpose of his recruitment wasn't to protect himself but rather, for those people who wanted a family. Until now, everything had been going along smoothly with the commanders being in-charge of individual divisions.

The first recommendation for the new division commander was Tea, one of the few veteran Whitebeard Pirates member. Despite her looks, she was uncannily strong. However, she didn't seem very interested in taking up the position. She even offered the position of second commander to Ace, in fact. There was an unsettling vibe to her that neither Whitebeard nor Marko could put their finger on. However, going too far in suspecting their own comrades was what they were not willing to do.

"Namizo-sama! Robinzou-kyun! The desserts are ready," Marko heard Sanjiko call out and adverted her gaze at the blonde cook twrilling around her male comrades.

It was weird, seeing how Sanjiko acted when she was known as one of the three main fights of their crew. It was a small crew but Luffyko managed it well. The easy-going air that Sanjiko always gave out was nothing different from Luffyko's. Zoroko was constantly training and toughening herself up. She wondered if Sanjiko or Luffyko trained at all. She saw Luffyko's abilities during Marineford and Zoroko wasn't a famous bounty hunter for nothing.

Sanjiko... how well could she fight?

She may be trained under the famous Red-Leg Zeff and even earned the nickname, 'Black-Leg Sanjiko' herself. Marko knew that she had talent and potential from the start. If she remembered correctly, she also wasn't a devil-fruit user and also doesn't rely on any weapons but her legs.

"Mar~ko!" Anne called out and hugged her from behind, her hands touching around a very familiar place.

Another vein popped on her forehead and Marko chanted to herself to keep calm. "What is it this time, yoi?"

"You were staring at Luffyko's cook. Don't tell me you fallen in love with her cooking too and was planning to get her to join. I wouldn't mind since the food she made was awesome but Luffyko would be upset if that were to happen."

"I wasn't planning on getting her to join," Marko clarified. "I was just thinking about her fighting prowess. What about you? Weren't you entertaining your little sister, yoi?"

"Fighting, huh. I heard that the three of them went up against the World Nobles."

If Marko had been a lot younger, she would've flinched at the title. "It was all over the news two years ago. It takes quite a lot of guts for a new batch of pirates to challenge them."

"Luffyko was the one who punched one in the nose though," Anne said and laughed.

"I remembered that you were quite worried too."

"I'm always worrying about her."

"You should worry about yourself now more, yoi."

"Why?"

Without answering further, Marko tossed Anne into the ocean, successfully getting her hands off her chest at the same time. She sweatdropped when Luffyko called after her and jumped into the sea herself, followed by Brooko and Cherry. Were they not aware that devil-fruit abilities users aren't able to swim?

After that, Zoroko and Sanjiko jumped in to save all of them.

"You're horrible, Marko! Throwing me into the sea when you know that I can't swim at all! You terrible person!" Anne cried while pointing an accusing finger at her.

"I wouldn't have did that if you weren't being too touching again."

"Demon witch! Old hag!"

"Do you want another round, yoi?"

Anne quickly shut up at that and proceed to hug Luffyko instead while muttering something about stupid birds. Namizou was scolding Brooko and Luffyko while carrying a worn-out Cherry.

Just then, Anne suddenly glanced to her side where Zoroko was sitting at, dripping wet, and trying to catch her breath. Reaching her hand out, she quickly grabbed onto Zoroko's chest and... groped her. The green-haired swordsman's reaction was nothing different from Marko's as Anne found herself being tossed into the sea once again.

Before Luffyko could jump after her sister, Namizou grabbed the back of her collar while Sanjiko had to jump in again.

"Every single time, I have to save you guys for these silly problems!" Sanjiko snapped while Anne was starting to pay attention at Sanjiko. "Don't even think about it!"

"I apologize for Anne's actions, yoi."

"You were the one who threw me in first!" Anne exclaimed.

"You should have a shower again or else you will catch a cold," Marko continued, ignoring Anne's protests.

Luffyko was the next to start making noises. "I don't wanna shower again! I hate bathing. I hate water," she whined.

"Go and bathe!" Namizou snapped.

"No!" Luffyko exclaimed and grabbed onto Anne's legs so that Namizou wouldn't scrub her down.

When she did, Anne instinctively grabbed onto Marko who was once again, trying to hold in her temper. What... loud people. Luffyko was really no different from Anne, although the older teen at least liked to shower daily. But for some reason, Anne still could call Luffyko cute somewhere while she was talking about how Luffyko wasn't clean.

In the end, Namizou tossed all of them, including Marko, into the shower room when Anne and Luffyko refused to let go of their grips. Marko disliked showering with Anne for the most obvious reason.

"It's been a long time since we've bathed together," Anne said happily. "Even though the Whitebeard Pirates shower together, I didn't get to shower with Marko after the first time."

"I wonder why," Marko grumbled. Might as well take a bath since Namizou blocked their escaped route. And wrecking the Thousand Sunny was the last thing that Marko would ever do. Thank god Marko was superb at tolerating.

While Anne was trying to get Luffyko in, the rest had already gotten into the huge tub. Marko had to admit that even the bathroom looked as unique as the other rooms that Frankie built. Most pirate ships, even the Moby Dick, had wooden floors and only had showers in a single, almost emptied room. There were sinks and mirrors too, if it counted. But Marko supposed that it was easier on Frankie since the Strawhat Pirates only has nine members.

"This feels good," Anne purred while holding a struggling Luffyko in one arm while her head rested on the side of Marko's chest.

Marko shoved Anne's head with her hand away. "This is a nice bathroom."

"What did you say, you damned marimo?"

"I said that you're sitting to close to me, dumbass princess!"

The first commander of the Whitebeard Pirates stared with an unamused gaze when Sanjiko and Zoroko started their daily fights again. At least Anne finally gave her a break by clinging onto Luffyko now, who was trying to wash herself as soon as possible so that she could get out of the bath. Even Marko was starting to feel weak herself but the reason why she wanted out was more of because she didn't want to get caught up in the two rivals' brawl.

Too late for that.

Her eyes slightly widened in surprise when Sanjiko was tossed towards her, causing the blond cook to land on her in a very an awkward position. However, none of the insane people had the word 'embarrassing' or 'shame' in their dictionary.

"Hah, it looks like I win this round," Zoroko boasted proudly.

"Oh yeah? I'm not down yet!"

"Stop fighting already, yoi!" Marko said in exasperation and held her down by grabbing her arm.

Why doesn't the both of them feel uncomfortable fighting butt-naked? Sure, there are only women here but Marko wouldn't feel alright with wrestling without any clothes on. Or maybe it was also because she always transformed into her phoenix form whenever her clothes get ripped during a battle. People can call her conservative or crazily modest for all she cared but she wouldn't want to show her goods to the men up there. And she will never willingly show them to Anne or Sachi too.

"Damn marimo!"

"Wouldn't be the first time I heard that," Zoroko retorted tauntingly, still proud at her victory.

Marko wondered if this could be the last time she gets to shower with all of them.

* * *

After a long dramatic shower, Marko could finally take a breather. Dealing with all of them was difficult and she wondered how does the sane members of the Strawhat Pirates handled it. Except, there wasn't any sane members among them at all. Even Sanjiko showed that she could snap easily when provoked or react abnormally when in face of her object of her desires, which happened to consist of every male species n the world. For a crew that earned a name for themselves within a shorter time frame, they never seemed to give people the impression that they deserved it upon first glances.

She wondered how they managed to survive till this far.

While the fight between Zoroko and Sanji continued in the dressing room, Marko went back to the Moby Dick before she get caught into it more than she already had. On the way, she met Izoko on the deck.

"Hey, Marko! You were with the Strawhat Pirates?" Izoko asked.

"Yeah. I was pulled into bathing with them, yoi."

"How lucky. I heard that their facilities are really something else, especially the bathroom. You could have invited me along too, you know," Izoko complained with a pout.

Marko shook her head instead and sighed. "It was a bad idea."

"Did something happened?"

"All of them have too much energy. Especially when you put the swordsman and cook together."

Izoko laughed and shook her head. "Isn't it the same with you and Sachi? She always liked teasing you more than anyone else. But I could understand since you are the easiest to get a satisfying reaction out of."

"Thank you, yoi," Marko replied sarcastically.

"You seemed more relaxed now," Izoko commented.

Marko raised an eyebrow at her doubtfully. "Are you sure? After all that, I'm surprised that I haven't lost my cool yet, yoi. When I say that they have too much energy, they really are the devils themselves."

"But you're having fun, aren't you? I haven't seen you interacting with someone else other than our crew for awhile. They may be trouble but they are certainly a lively bunch. It's nice to see you doing something instead of work for once."

"It's my duty, yoi."

"It isn't your duty to do that all the time, right? Since Anne's little sister's crew is here, we should get along with them more. It doesn't have to be Monkey D. Luffyko since I have to admit that even I couldn't keep up with her. But the little raccoon is kind of cute and easy to get along with. Cherry, was it?"

"It's a reindeer," Marko corrected.

Izoko shrugged and continued, "Or do you prefer the skeleton if you're into that sort of thing."

"... I'll pass, yoi."

"Anything works, actually. Since you mingled in well, there must be someone you could become closer with. I'm not trying to take on your mama position but all of us worries for you."

Marko fumed. "Who are you calling mama?"

Izoko let out a small laugh and patted Marko's back before she retreated back to her room, leaving Marko alone with her thoughts.

As the first commander turned her gaze to the Strawhat Pirates assembled on the deck of the Thousand Sunny, she couldn't help but feel that Izoko might be right on something. Even though they create more trouble than Anne, all of them could give anyone a warm, welcoming feeling when they interacted. It was a mysterious ability that people thought only Luffyko possessed. However, Marko felt that every one of them could attract many others in their own ways.

And Anne was no different from them.

* * *

Am I going too slow with the plot? I have quite a few things planned for it but I'm still in the middle of organizing them. DX

Please review!


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